Baffert wins at Santa Anita before 90-day suspension begins

Associated PressApr 3, 2022, 1:06 PM EDT

Getty Images

ARCADIA, Calif. – Bob Baffert won the sixth race at Santa Anita, sending the Hall of Fame trainer out a winner two days before his 90-day suspension begins.

Baffert was in the winner’s circle with Shaaz after the $72,000 race. He was joined by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, who was aboard for the 2 3/4-length victory.

In Hot Springs, Arkansas, Cezanne finished second in the $400,000 Oaklawn Mile, losing by a neck. Baffert decided to scratch Eda from her scheduled start in the $600,000 Fantasy Stakes at the same track.

Baffert has 21 victories in 66 starts and earnings of $2.6 million so far this year.

But on Friday, the Kentucky Court of Appeals rejected Baffert’s motion for emergency relief from his 90-day suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. His suspension is the result of medication violations involving some of his horses, including Medina Spirit.

Signage outside Baffert’s barn at Santa Anita was removed as part of a California Horse Racing Board rule that mandates any trainer who is suspended for 60 days or more be banned from all CHRB-licensed facilities.

Baffert had already transferred four promising 3-year-old colts to other trainers so they can run in major prep races and potentially earn points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby on May 7.

The CHRB said Saturday that Baffert will be banned from all CHRB-licensed facilities and won’t be permitted to be involved in the training of horses that have previously been under his care.

Any trainer at Santa Anita, Golden Gate Fields, Los Alamitos or San Luis Rey Downs who may have horses transferred to their barn from Baffert will have to apply for stalls for those horses to the tracks’ racing offices, which will make the final decision.

Any Baffert horses not transferred to a trainer in California will have to leave Santa Anita before Monday. The track’s winter-spring meet ends June 19.

Churchill Downs has suspended Baffert for the 2022 and 2023 Kentucky Derbies. He is fighting that ban in federal court.

His suspension will be honored in all 38 racing states.

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.