arkansas derby | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert Tabs Mike Smith To Ride Concert Tour In 146th Preakness Stakes

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday morning that the time was right for Gary and Mary West's Concert Tour to jump onto the Triple Crown trail in the 146th Preakness Stakes (G1) May 15 at Pimlico Race Course.

“We figure, this is the race,” Baffert said by phone from Santa Anita. “The Derby is run. A lot of horses, they went through a lot to get here. He's sort of a fresh horse. In the Rebel, he looked so good.”

Concert Tour, who captured the March 13 Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn by 4 ¼ lengths, was withdrawn from consideration for last Saturday's Kentucky Derby (G1) after finishing third as the 3-10 favorite in the Arkansas Derby (G1) on April 10. Baffert made the decision to point the son of Street Sense to the Preakness instead and he confirmed this week that the colt will indeed compete in the Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Concert Tour is scheduled to clash with stablemate Medina Spirit, who gave Baffert his record seventh Kentucky Derby success with a gutsy front-running victory at Churchill Downs.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith will ride Concert Tour for the first time in the Preakness.

Since the Arkansas Derby, Concert Tour has worked twice at Churchill Downs. Baffert watched him breeze five furlongs in 1:00.60 Sunday morning and decided he should stay on course for the Preakness. Concert Tour will work again this weekend before shipping to Baltimore early next week.

Baffert said that he made changes in strategy after Medina Spirit was second as the favorite in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 3. Putting the colt on the lead in the Derby led to his triumph. Meanwhile, he's had to fine-tune his approach with Concert Tour.

“We're getting to know these horses,” Baffert said. “He's lightly raced, but we've learned a lot about him. So we make adjustments and here we are.

“We know what we need to do, just like Medina Spirit. You get beat and you figure it out,” he added. “You learn more from your losses: what a horse likes, what he doesn't like. Did I have him ready? I make notes and figure out what's wrong. Three weeks just wasn't enough to really feel comfortable to go in there and Gary West really didn't feel comfortable running in the Derby after a race like that.”

Baffert said he spoke with Gary West after Concert Tour's Sunday morning workout and they decided to continue with the plan to run at Pimlico.

“He asked me, 'Did he work well enough to run in the Preakness?'” Baffert said. “I said, 'Yes, he did. He worked well.'”

Once that question was answered, the Wests did not hesitate to make plans for the Preakness.

“That's why they are in the business and that's why they want to try for it,” Baffert said. “If you can run in the Preakness and win the Preakness, it's a very exciting race.”

Concert Tour entered the Arkansas Derby unbeaten in three starts and a top candidate to be among the Kentucky Derby favorites. He faltered, though, forcing to Baffert to change his schedule.

“We'll find out. Let's see how good he is,” Baffert said. “Maybe he's good or maybe not as good as we thought he was. We're going to find out next week.”

Zedan Racing's Medina Spirit could resume training Wednesday at Churchill Downs as the 3-year-old colt prepares for the Preakness Stakes. Medina Spirit had his third scheduled walk day Tuesday after his 12-1 upset Derby victory.

Jimmy Barnes, Baffert's top assistant who is overseeing the training of Medina Spirit and the stable's other horses at Churchill Downs, said Concert Tour returned to the track Tuesday morning after a day off following Sunday's five-furlong workout.

“Concert Tour jogged. Medina walked again today. We'll talk to Bob and see if he wants to go another day or jog him tomorrow or something,” Barnes said. “Everyone is very healthy. I couldn't be happier with them.”

The post Baffert Tabs Mike Smith To Ride Concert Tour In 146th Preakness Stakes appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The Friday Show: Adding An Asterisk To An Arkansas Derby Winner

It's been almost a year since Bob Baffert-trained Gamine and Charlatan won races at Oaklawn – Gamine in an allowance race and Charlatan in a division of the Grade 1, $1-million Arkansas Derby – and then subsequently were disqualified when post-race drug tests detected the prohibited drug lidocaine.

Those disqualifications were appealed, as was a 15-day suspension given Baffert by the Oaklawn board of stewards. Earlier this week after a two-day hearing, the Arkansas Racing Commission voted unanimously to restore the horses' wins, eliminate Baffert's suspension and instead fine him $5,000 for each positive.

Paulick Report editor-in-chief Natalie Voss, who viewed the 15-hour proceedings online and reported on the commissioners' vote, joins Ray Paulick in this week's Friday Show to discuss the case and the challenges made by the Hall of Fame trainer and his attorneys to the drug testing process and stewards' rulings.

Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills then joins Ray to highlight our Star of the Week as well as make his Toast to Vino Rosso and one of the first-crop foals sired by the Breeders' Cup Classic-winning son of Curlin.

The post The Friday Show: Adding An Asterisk To An Arkansas Derby Winner appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Charlatan, Gamine DQs Overturned

The disqualifications of Charlatan (Speightstown) and Gamine (Into Mischief) from May 2, 2020 wins at Oaklawn Park have been overturned, and Bob Baffert's 15-day suspension has been waived after a two-day hearing in front of the Arkansas Racing Commission.

Charlatan was the winner of the GI Arkansas Derby, while Gamine won an allowance race the same day. Oaklawn announced lidocaine positives for the pair, disqualified them from the victories, and redistributed purse money last year.

Tuesday, at the conclusion of the hearing, Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robertson, said, “The ruling is that Charlatan and Gamine's wins are reinstated. There will be no suspension for Bob. There will be a $5,000 fine for Bob for each horse, for a total of a $10,000 fine.”

Robertson had argued that the positives were a result of Baffert's assistant, Jimmy Barnes, inadvertently contaminating the horses because he was wearing a Salonpas patch, and that the lidocaine was transferred from his hands to the horses. Moreover, he argued that the trace amounts of the drug were so low that they couldn't have been performance-enhancing.

Of the hearing, Robertson said, “There wasn't a whole lot of discussion. But basically, as I understood what they were saying, they felt like there were problems with the testing, and that it was clear that at these levels, there would have been no pharmacology in the horse, so no performance-enhancing effect on the outcome of the race.

“I told them that there were seven reasons why they needed to dismiss the matter,” Robertson continued. “In broad strokes: there were a lot of admitted errors in the testing and with the testing laboratory, and broadly, my argument was that you could not rely upon the test results given all the admitted errors and mistakes. An additional argument was that there was no pharmacology and so they needed to consider all the factors.”

Robertson said that he was relieved for Baffert, who lived with something of a cloud over his head in 2020 due to the disqualifications and to the revelation that Justify had incurred a scopolamine positive in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby. A complaint by trainer Mick Ruis in that case was dismissed by the CHRB.

“I'm elated,” said Robertson. “I'm mostly happy for Bob, because this has been hanging over his head, and I feel it's been hanging over his head unfairly. We felt all along if we could get in front of the commission and present all of the facts and all of the evidence, that we had a compelling case. Now that doesn't mean you're always going to get the result you want, but this time we did and I'm thrilled.”

Reached as he was boarding a plane to return to California, Baffert said, “I'm happy with the result and it has really been wearing on us–on Jimmy and us–and us and it's nice to see that the horses were rewarded for their performances. They need to have this conversation about the testing. They need to be more precise about it. I feel like trainers are sitting ducks. These contamination levels, they're testing at these levels, and it's tough. It's been a very demanding year.”

Baffert said that because the public only gets part of the story, there's often an immediate presumption of guilt when the initial story is published.

“We weren't at fault, but public perception doesn't know that because they don't know what's going on,” he said. “I don't want to be painted with that brush. You just have to be careful it doesn't happen again, but racing regulators need to figure out the science.”

He referenced Gamine's disqualification from the GI Kentucky Oaks after she tested positive for betamethasone, a permitted medication in Kentucky, but with a mandated two-week withdrawal time. Craig Robertson said she was given the drug 18 days before the race.

“With Gamine and the betamethasone, we did everything by the rules and we still got in trouble,” said Baffert.

Robertson said that he was relieved to put this behind them and move on.

“The two big issues that were hanging over him were Justify and Charlatan and he has been exonerated in both cases,” said Robertson. “It's the just result and I'm really just thrilled for him. I'm grateful that the Arkansas Racing Commission stewards took the time and carefully considered the evidence and rendered a fair decision.”

The post Charlatan, Gamine DQs Overturned appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Caddo River Targeting Kentucky Derby

Trainer Brad Cox confirmed Tuesday morning that Shortleaf Stable's GI Arkansas Derby runner-up and 'TDN Rising Star' Caddo River (Hard Spun) is being aimed at a start in the GI Kentucky Derby.

“If all goes well after his work on Saturday, we'll run in the Derby,” Cox said. “He came out of the Arkansas Derby in great shape. He's a sound horse who is training well.”

The speedy Caddo River, a blowout front-running winner of the Smarty Jones S., was fifth as the favorite after conceding the early lead to Concert Tour in the GII Rebel S.

The post Caddo River Targeting Kentucky Derby appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post