Authentic wins Haskell for Bob Baffert at Monmouth Park

Associated PressJul 18, 2020, 8:25 PM EDT

OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) — Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert got yet another win in the Haskell Stakes with a talented, developing colt who is now very much in the picture for the coronavirus-delayed Kentucky Derby.

Authentic gave Baffert his record-extending ninth victory in the $1 million Grade 1 Haskell on Saturday, holding off late charging Ny Traffic by a nose at Monmouth Park.

Jockey Mike Smith put the Santa Anita Derby runner-up on the lead at the start and they covered the 1 1/8- mile Grade 1 stakes in 1:50.46. The win was the third in four starts this year for the colt.

“I’m just so proud of him,” Baffert said. “I was telling Mike, ’You got to stay after him and keep him busy because he looks at everything.′ I could tell he wasn’t focused going down the stretch. He held on and he saw that horse coming to him and he took off again.”

Belmont runner-up Dr. Post finished third under jockey Joe Bravo.

Smith, who made the trip in from the West Coast and had to pass a coronavirus test before gaining entrance to the track, broke Authentic from the No. 2 post and never lost the lead.

It was not the easiest of rides.

“He has an abundance of talent but he’s still got some growing up to do,” Smith said. “He sees all kinds of things that aren’t even there. Down the backside there are a lot of shadows with the sun setting and he must have ducked at every one of them, He almost got me off at one point.”

It might have been a going away present for Baffert, who has been hit with a 15-day suspension by the Oaklawn Park stewards in Arkansas. It’s the result of two of his horses testing positive for being over the allowed limit of a substance in races on May 2. Baffert plans to appeal the penalty.

Assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes saddled the colt Saturday.

Baffert last won the Haskell in 2015 with American Pharoah, one of two colts he guided to the Triple Crown. Justify (2018) was the other.

Baffert’s other Haskell winners were in 2014 (Bayern), 2012 (Paynter), 2011 (Coil), 2010 (Lookin at Lucky), 2005 (Roman Ruler), 2002 (War Emblem) and 2001 (Point Given).

Authentic won his first three starts before finishing second to Honor A. P. in the Grade 1 race in California in his last start on June 6.

Ny Traffic, who finished second in the Matt Winn in Kentucky in his last start, came flying late and could not catch Authentic before the finish line with Paco Lopez aboard.

“I was sure I got him — 100%,” Lopez said. “I can’t believe it. I’m surprised we didn’t win. I really thought we got him.”

Authentic earned 100 points for the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5. The winner also earned a berth for the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November.

Authentic paid $3.20, $2.60 and $2.10. Ny Traffic returned $4.20 and $2.40, and Dr Post paid $2.10 to show.

The owners of Tiz the Law plan to run this year’s winner of the first leg of the Triple Crown in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 8. It would be his final prep for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. The Preakness is scheduled for Oct. 3 in a rejiggered Triple Crown season changed by the coronavirus.

Just before the Haskell, Bravo rallied Aquaphobia ($23.40) in the stretch to a narrow victory over Paret in the $300,000 The United Nations Stakes, the only other Grade 1 race run in New Jersey. It’s was Bravo’s fifth win in the race.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT

Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK

NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT

Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.