Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert suspended from participating in racing or training activities at NYRA tracks through January 25 | CNN (2024)
Bob Baffert looks on during last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del Mar Race Track in California.
CNN —
A three-member hearing panel has made the decision to suspend Hall of Fame horse trainer Bob Baffert for one year, effective immediately, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday.
The 69-year-old Baffert was suspended after Medina Spirit’s victory at the 2021 Kentucky Derby was disqualified.
The horse failed a drug test after crossing the finish line first at the Derby, a race Baffert has won on six previous occasions.
Baffert, a two-time winner of horse racing’s Triple Crown, appealed the KHRC’s decision, but the Kentucky Court of Appeals denied his motion for emergency relief on April 1. His suspension started April 4.
According to a NYRA press release, following a two-month review of a 50-page report, the panel decided to suspend Baffert for 365 calendar days.
However, the panel credited Baffert with 59 days served after he was placed under temporary suspension by the NYRA in May 2021 on top of the 90-day suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Baffert’s NYRA suspension runs through January 25.
“This was an impartial and deliberative process that has resulted in a lengthy suspension of the sport’s most prominent trainer,” said Dave O’Rourke, president and CEO of the NYRA.
“However, this is not simply about Bob Baffert or any one individual but about protecting the integrity of the sport here in New York. Today’s decision advances that goal.”
Following last year’s Derby, Medina Spirit was found to have betamethasone – an anti-inflammatory corticosteroid sometimes used to relieve joint pain – in a blood sample. Kentucky horse racing rules don’t allow that and tell trainers to stop using the therapeutic 14 days before an event.
CNN has reached out to Baffert’s representation for comment.
In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Triple_Crown_of_Thorough...
-winning horse trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended one year by the New York Racing Association
New York Racing Association
(NYRA) is the not-for-profit corporation that operates the three largest thoroughbred horse racing tracks in the state of New York, United States: Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park, Queens; Belmont Park in Elmont; and Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs. The New York Racing Association, Inc.
, the NYRA announced Thursday. Baffert, whose camp unsuccessfully asked for a stay of the suspension, can return to horse racing in New York on Jan. 26, 2023, as he is being credited for time served.
Baffert has been implicated in drugging scandals and the deaths of seven horses who collapsed in California, and at least 75 horses in his care have died.
Just like caddies at the Masters receive some of the payout if their golfer wins, jockeys receive a portion of the Kentucky Derby prize their horse lands. According to multiple reports, jockeys typically receive 10% of the prize money. So, whichever jockey is first across the line Saturday will likely pocket $310,000.
Baffert also trained the 2018 Triple Crown Winner, Justify and the 2020 Kentucky Derby winner, Authentic. Baffert became a 7-time winner of the Kentucky Derby in 2021 with Medina Spirit.
Fierceness (5-2) is the betting favorite to win the Kentucky Derby. But there are plenty of other strong horses in the field, including Sierra Leone (3-1), Catching Freedom (8-1) and many others.
He sired 663 named foals, those horses creating endless bloodlines that eventually wind their way back to Big Red. American Pharoah, who broke the 37-year-old Triple Crown hex in 2015, is a great-great-great grandson of the horse. But only two of those 663 direct progeny are still alive.
13 horses have won the Triple Crown: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015), and Justify (2018).
LOS ANGELES — In 2021, horse trainer Bob Baffert faced exile from his sport and national ridicule after his Kentucky Derby-winning horse, Medina Spirit, failed a post-race drug test. It was a scandal that put drug violations and dead horses in the headlines and Baffert in the crosshairs.
In suspending Baffert for a year, the New York Racing Association cited seven medication violations – including Medina Spirit's failed drug test at the 2021 Kentucky Derby – at various tracks between 2019 and 2021.
Boasting an estimated net worth of $55 million in 2023, he holds a prominent position among the industry's most affluent individuals. Baffert's prosperity is rooted in his remarkable talent for commanding significant fees for his professional services.
Finally, if the horse qualifies for the Kentucky Derby - just 20 spots are up for grabs - Churchill Down charges a widely reported $50,000 for participation in the race: an initial entry fee of $25,000, plus a starting fee of $25,000.
Jockeys must be at least 16 years old. There is no set height or weight requirement, but the majority of jockeys do not weigh more than 125 pounds, many even less, with height (usually around 5 feet tall) or proportionate to their weight.
Infield general admission: $130 ($135 with fees).Infield final turn general admission: $320 ($387 with fees).Reserved seating: $975 ($1,160 with fees).Dining: $1,786 ($2,125 with fees).
Bob Baffert (born January 13, 1953, Nogales, Arizona, U.S.) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer who is one of the most successful trainers in American horse-racing history.
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