Tag: Bob Baffert

‘No Excuses,’ Baffert Said After Improbable Finishes Preparations For His Classic Trio

Trainer Bob Baffert put the finishing touches on his $6-million, Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic “triple threat” on Sunday morning at Santa Anita when Improbable worked a strong six furlongs in 1:11.40 on a fast track under exercise rider Juan Ochoa.

On Saturday, Baffert's two other contenders for the 1 1/4-mile Classic worked five furlongs at the Arcadia, Calif., track in preparation for their Nov. 7 engagement at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky. G1 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic worked the distance in :59.60 and Maximum Security, the 2019 3-year-old male champion, covered five furlongs in 1:00.60 in company.

“No excuses for any of them,” Baffert said. “They're all training as good as they can possibly be doing.”

Baffert's horses will ship to Kentucky on Tuesday.

Improbable, the likely favorite in the Classic, is a 4-year-old City Zip colt coming into the world championships on a three-race Grade 1 win streak, most recently beating Maximum Security by 4 1/2 lengths in the Sept. 26 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita. Before that he won the Whitney at Saratoga by two lengths over By My Standards, with even-money favorite Tom's d'Etat third after a stumbling start. He'll face both horses again in the Classic. By My Standards came out of the Whitney to win the G2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs for trainer Bret Calhoun on Sept. 4. Tom's d'Etat, whose four-race win streak was snapped in the Whitney, has not raced since the Aug. 1 contest, trainer Al Stall electing to bring the 7-year-old by Smart Strike into the Breeders' Cup as a fresh horse.

Improbable has been plagued with problems in the starting gate throughout his career, though Baffert said he is maturing and the horse has spent a lot of time schooling in the gate during training hours.

While Improbable's best races are from off the pace, Authentic, a 3-year-old by Into Mischief, and Maximum Security, a 4-year-old by New Year's Day, are free-running types who have scored most of their wins on the lead.

Where would Baffert like to see the three horses positioned in the early stages of the Classic?

“That's like a hitter asking Walker Beuhler what pitches he's going to throw him,” Baffert said, referring to the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher and Lexington, Ky., native who owns a small share of Authentic. “I can't do that.”

Baffert said his three riders – Irad Ortiz Jr. on Improbable, Luis Saez on Maximum Security and John Velazquez on Authentic – know their horses and what's best for them. “A lot's going to depend on the draw,” he added.

Entries close Monday and the draw for post positions for all 14 Breeders' Cup races will be held from 4:30-6:30 p.m. ET and can be seen live on TVG, breederscup.com or on the Breeders' Cup mobile app.

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Tiz the Law Completes Classic Preparations at Keeneland

Sackatoga Stables’ GI Belmont S. winner and GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Tiz the Law (Constitution) capped off his serious work ahead of next Saturday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Classic with a five-furlong breeze at Keeneland Saturday morning.

With his regular work rider Heather Smullen in the irons, the New York-bred drilled five furlongs in :59.20 and galloped out an extra eighth of a mile in 1:12.20 (video).

“I saw just what I wanted. He went perfectly,” said trainer Barclay Tagg who will send out his 11th Breeders’ Cup starter next weekend. “We wanted him to go in :59 and he went in :59.20, so it was just right.”

Tiz the Law will be making his first start since dropping a 1 1/4-length decision at the hands of Authentic in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby and was an early arrival at Keeneland Oct. 18. Saturday’s work was his second locally, having breezed three-quarters of a mile in 1:13.20 Oct. 23.

“I thought he needs to get a good feel of this track (because) he has never run over it,” Tagg said of the plan to ship in the colt on the early side. “He has to run against older horses; it is going to be a tough race. “I have a super-duper crew and everything has gone right. We pay attention to the horses. We carry 30 horses at the most and try to get the best out of what we got, and every now and then we get a good one.”

Hronis Racing’s Higher Power (Medaglia d’Oro) has been on the grounds at Keeneland since early October and also tuned up for the Classic Saturday with a strong five-furlong work that was timed in :58.80, with a six-furlong gallop-out in 1:11.60 (video).

“I liked the way he came back from it,” said former jockey Juan Leyva, who serves as assistant to trainer John Sadler and who rode Musical Romance (Concorde’s Tune) to an upset victory in the 2011 GI Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. “He was blowing a little bit but not out of this world. His level of fitness has really progressed here.”

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stables’ Vequist (Nyquist) arrived into Lexington from Philadelphia this past Monday and geared up for her start in next Friday’s GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies by zipping a half-mile in :47.20 for trainer Butch Reid (video). The 9 1/2-length winner of the GI Spinaway S. at Saratoga Sept. 6, the dark bay was a latest second to the impressive Dayoutoftheoffice (Into Mischief) in the GI Frizette S. at Belmont Oct. 6.

“I think a work over the track is very important and that is why we came when we did,” Reid said. “She had three or four good gallops and the work was fine. She did work at Saratoga [before the Spinaway] but didn’t before the Frizette because Belmont is just up the road from Philadelphia.”

Reid, who won the 2011 GII Breeders’ Cup Marathon with Afleet Again (Afleet Alex), said that Joel Rosario will have the mount Friday.

Monomoy Girl Headlines Busy Morning at CD…

The Saturday morning worktab across Interstate 64 at Churchill was equally busy at it was at Keeneland, with no fewe than 27 Breeders’ Cup pre-entered horses getting in their final serious work.

The two females that will vie for favoritism in Saturday’s GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff were the marquee names on a chilly Louisville morning. Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) was one of a half-dozen workers for trainer Brad Cox, and the 2018 GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff heroine tuned up with a steady five-furlong work that was timed in 1:01 flat. With Florent Geroux up and galloping in the company of GI Dirt Mile hopeful Owendale (Into Mischief), Monomoy Girl went in fractions of :12.80, :24.60, :37 and :48.40 before pulling up six furlongs in 1:14.40 (video).

“She’s a champion mare and really a horse of a lifetime,” said Geroux, winner of four other Breeders’ Cup races in addition to the Distaff. “She’s a future Hall of Famer with her resume. The speed figures show she is a little bit faster this year than her 3-year-old year.”

Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), last-start winner of the GI Preakness S., breezed five-eighths of a mile in 1:00 flat in :24.60, :36.40 and :48.20 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.20 (video). While trainer Ken McPeek and owner Peter Callahan still have some work to do, Swiss Skydiver is likely to take up her spot against her peers on Breeders’ Cup Saturday.

“At this point we’re going Distaff unless there’s a late defection from the Classic,” McPeek told pool reporters Saturday morning. “We had a chance to look at not only the regular past performances but all the Ragozin numbers and that’s what we’re doing.”

McPeek says Swiss Skydiver has been ticking right along and is pleased with what he saw on the track Saturday morning.

“She busted out 12s,” he said. “[Jockey] Robby [Albarado] really does have her number right now, he’s got her in nice rhythm out there and knows how she feels under him. I think we’re well loaded and we’ve got her right on even keel.”

McPeek, still in search of a maiden Breeders’ Cup victory, also sent out GI Darley Alcibiades S. romper Simply Ravishing (Laoban) to work five-eighths in 1:00 flat. She and Swiss Skydiver worked on their own.

Tom’s d’Etat (Smart Strike) will enter the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic with just three starts under his belt this season and will be having his first run since a troubled third to Improbable (City Zip) in the GI Whitney S. at Saratoga in early August. The dean of the field at age seven, the G M B Racing runner breezed a very easy four furlongs in :50.40 Saturday morning.

“We really just wanted to go out there and stretch his legs,” said trainer Al Stall, Jr. “It was just get him around there, save a lot of energy and come out of it nice and just be ready for Saturday.”

Bell’s the One (Majesticperfection) may lack the star power, even with her defeat of Serengeti Empress (Alternation) in the GI Derby City Distaff Sept. 5, but the 4-year-old continues to thrive and worked a smooth half-mile in :47 3/5 at Churchill Downs Saturday morning.

“She did just what we wanted, just wanted an easy half and did it very easily and we’re set to go,” trainer Neil Pessin told pool reporter Alicia Wincze Hughes.”

The defection and subsequent retirement of Bellafina (Quality Road) could make life more difficult for Bell’s the One, in Pessin’s estimation.

“I don’t know if anyone is fast enough to go with Serengeti,” he opined. “Bellafina was, she laid right off her. Venetian Harbor (Munnings) and Gamine (Into Mischief) are speed horses, but they’ve never gone faster than :45 in their lives and Serengeti can go :43 3/5. If they go :44 and two or three, that sets it up better for Serengeti than for us. But we’re doing good, my filly is going to run her race and hopefully we can catch them at the end.”

Three of Bob Baffert’s top Breeders’ Cup contenders put in their final breezes ahead of their respective World Championship races at Santa Anita Saturday morning.

GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief) covered five panels in :59.60 (7/53) (video) ahead of the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. The ‘TDN Rising Star’ was last seen finishing second to GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff-bound Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) in the GI Preakness S. Oct. 3.

“He was out there doing his thing,” Baffert told the TDN when reached by phone. “He always works alone, him and Improbable. They are both very willing. He bounced out of the Preakness really well and his last two works were pretty strong. He is about as ready as I can have him. I really like the way he is coming into this race.”

Fellow BC Classic contender Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) also breezed five furlongs in Arcadia Saturday, stopping the clock in 1:00.60 (14/53) (video). Winner of the GI TVG Pacific Classic Aug. 22, the bay was second to his stablemate Improbable (City Zip)–who is scheduled to work Sunday–in the GI Awesome Again S. Sept. 26.

“He went well,” Baffert said of Maximum Security. “He is the lazier type [in his breezes], but he gets enough out of his works. He looks great. He will be right there.”

‘TDN Rising Star’ Gamine (Into Mischief) clocked the fastest five-furlong work of the Baffert trio, covering the distance in :59.40 (2/53) (video). An ultra impressive winner of both the GI Longines Acorn S. and GI Longines Test S., the bay was last seen finishing third in the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4 and will cut back in trip for the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint S.

“Gamine looked fantastic,” Baffert said. “She just sat there with another horse and when he asked her to pick it up, she just went boom. She has matured and just looks really good coming into this race. She has been on the lead and she makes the lead because she is brilliant on her own. But, she is not a speed crazy type of horse. I can see she is on top of her game.”

Baffert also offered a comment on GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies contender and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Princess Noor (Not This Time), who breezed five panels in :59.80 (3/43) in Arcadia Friday.

“She worked yesterday. She looks great,” Baffert said. “On paper, her numbers don’t stack up to those other fillies, but she has done everything here in a hand ride. I think she is special. The thing about the Breeders’ Cup is you can brag all you want, but when the gate comes open, the separation begins. That is the beauty of the Breeders’ Cup. That’s why they have it. The good horses, they separate themselves.”

Baffert’s Breeders’ Cup contingent will fly to Keeneland Tuesday for the Nov. 6-7 World Championships.

Another Hall of Famer sent out a BC-bound Saturday morning in Arcadia with GI Breeders’ Cup Turf runner United (Giant’s Causeway) covering six panels in 1:15 (1/2) (video) for Richard Mandella.

Pletcher Pair Take To Belmont Main Track…

Trainer Todd Pletcher was on hand to see the final Breeders’ Cup works for Halladay (War Front) and Valiance (Tapit) Saturday morning on a brisk Long Island morning.

Halladay, unraced since wiring the field in the GI Fourstardave H. at Saratoga Aug. 22, clocked :49.21 (video) for his four-furlong breeze over the main track. It was the third work for Halladay since having to be scratched from the GI Shadwell Mile S. Oct. 3 with a hind-leg infection.

“I was happy we were able to get it in today. The track dried out pretty nicely considering all of the rain we’ve had,” Pletcher said. “Halladay was a touch keen early on. He went off a little quick but then he relaxed, settled quickly, finished up strong and galloped out well. I was happy with that.”

Also working by her lonesome was GI Juddmonte Spinster S. upsetter Valiance, who stopped the clock in :49 flat (video).

“Valiance maintains form really well. Not only was her work good, but she galloped out well. She seems to be doing as well as she can at the moment,” Pletcher said.

Luis Saez has the call on both horses in the GI Breeders’ Cup Mile and GI Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff, respectively.

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Baffert Scopolamine Hearing Unfolds in Complicated, Twisting Fashion

After 2 1/2 years of closed-session decision-making by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) and a complicated court battle to publicly reopen the case over whether to disqualify 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify over a scopolamine positive from when the colt won that year’s GI Santa Anita Derby, the initial back-and-forth legal salvos in an Oct. 29 stewards’ hearing on the matter indicate that the argument could come down to whether scopolamine was a Class 3 or Class 4 substance at the time of the post-race test.

The difference in classification might seem pretty simple to determine. And the distinction is of the utmost importance in California, where Class 1 through 3 drug positives trigger automatic disqualification of horses, regardless of trainer intent or culpability.

But as four-plus hours of back-and-forth testimony and cross-examination repeatedly underscored Thursday, a definitive answer on the drug’s technical classification remains elusive and open to interpretation because of the cumbersome, bureaucratic way the CHRB has to codify its rules to comply with state law (explained below).

Beyond the objection-laden testimony over scopolamine’s classification at the time of Justify’s positive, an attorney for Bob Baffert, the colt’s trainer, argued that the stewards shouldn’t even be re-hearing the case at all because the CHRB already adjudicated it without imposing any penalization or race disqualification in an August 2018 executive session.

That controversial 2018 commission vote took place privately after a detailed–but not publicly disclosed at the time–investigation that led to the exoneration of Justify and Baffert based on a finding of accidental environmental contamination by jimson weed.

“This case was correctly decided by the CHRB in 2018. It was a final and binding decision. And nothing has changed since then, and you all should simply affirm that decision so that we can put this matter to bed once and for all,” said Baffert’s lawyer, W. Craig Robertson III.

“When that investigation was complete, there were two things that were clear, undisputed and undeniable,” Robertson continued. “Number one, that this was a case of innocent environmental contamination from hay and it was not a case of any intentional administration of any drug or medication. And number two, that the trace levels of scopolamine … had no effect on the performance of these horses and no effect on the races.”

But Robert Petersen, an attorney representing the CHRB, said he disagreed “with the idea that this is somehow a re-do of some earlier adjudication. I think the facts clearly show there has never been a full adjudication on the merits of this issue … People may have an issue with the rule [mandating Class 3 disqualifications being too] draconian. But that’s what the rule is. I can’t change the rules.”

Although Justify is the “headline horse” in the case, the stewards were combining two cases into one hearing Thursday. Also up for potential re-adjudication was the scopolamine positive of MGISW Hoppertunity, another Baffert trainee who tested dirty when winning the GIII Tokyo City Cup S. the day after Justify won the Santa Anita Derby.

For context, the two positives of the Baffert trainees were not isolated cases. In roughly the same time frame in 2018, the CHRB received positive post-race tests for scopolamine on five other horses, and the CHRB eventually treated them all as unintentional jimson weed contaminations from ingesting tainted hay.

Thursday, the CHRB’s equine medical director, Rick Arthur, DVM, was the chief witness called by Baffert’s attorney to defend the new complaint.

Arthur, who led the 2018 scopolamine investigation and had recommended not penalizing Justify, Baffert, or any of the other horses or trainers based on the findings and mitigating circumstances, testified under the unusual circumstances of disagreeing with the CHRB’s decision to have the Santa Anita stewards revisit the case. (It should be noted that the CHRB is no longer comprised of the same makeup of commissioners who were on the board in 2018).

“The entire case [of all scopolamine positives during that time frame] was dismissed. And I’m actually pretty shocked the state’s arguing otherwise,” Arthur said.

“I stand by my recommendation to the executive director and the board 100%,” Arthur continued. “This was the correct decision. It was the fair decision. Usually, regulatory agencies don’t have the guts to do what’s fair and right, and this board made that decision appropriately. I think they could be questioned about the lack of transparency. And I warned them that this was not going to stay a secret at that time. But that was their decision, not mine.”

Background on the case

Arthur’s point about the lack of transparency factors centrally in the way the Justify and Hoppertunity positives were handled in 2018. No complaints were issued at the time of findings, and the CHRB’s investigation unfolded behind the scenes while the nation was watching Justify win race after race en route to an undefeated, Triple Crown-winning season.

When the CHRB finally did vote not to penalize Justify or Baffert, it was August 2018, and their unanimous executive-session decision was not made public.

It was more than a year before news about Justify’s positive and non-penalization became widely known. On Sept. 11, 2019, the New York Times broke the story that Justify tested positive when he won the Santa Anita Derby, a GI Kentucky Derby points qualifying race that vaulted him into contention for the Triple Crown.

That revelation sparked a January 2020 lawsuit initiated against the CHRB by Mick Ruis, who owned and trained the 2018 Santa Anita Derby runner-up, Bolt d’Oro. In his suit, Ruis alleged that the CHRB’s secret vote to dismiss the case led Ruis to suffer “the loss of purse caused by the CHRB’s failing to disqualify Justify and re-distribute the purse for the positive test result.”

Eight months later, as part of a negotiated settlement to get Ruis to drop his lawsuit, the CHRB again met in closed session, voting Aug. 20, 2020 to reverse its previous course of no action and to proceed with a complaint seeking the disqualification of Justify and the redistribution of the purse from that stakes.

So is scopolamine Class 3 or 4?

The new complaint that the stewards were tasked with adjudicating Thursday pertains to possible race disqualifications for Justify and Hoppertunity, and not punishment of Baffert.

The bone of contention that came up early and often was how California classified scopolamine at the time of the offenses.

The CHRB, by its own regulation, follows the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI) Uniform Classification Guidelines for Foreign Substances and Recommended Penalties when establishing model rules for drugs. The ARCI once classified scopolamine as a Class 3 drug (lower-number classifications are more severe). But in December 2016, the ARCI reclassified it to a lesser Class 4 offense.

Arthur testified that the CHRB fully intended to follow the ARCI’s model rule that reclassified scopolamine (and other drugs that also changed classes). But since California’s Office of Administrative Law doesn’t allow the CHRB to change rules by automatically referencing another authority’s code, the racing agency has to go through a drawn-out process to make even minute changes such as drug reclassifications.

So because of this bureaucratic backlog, scopolamine in 2018 was still technically Class 3 in California, even though Arthur and the CHRB considered it to match the ARCI’s newer Class 4 downgrade.

Arthur explained how as the equine medical director, he has regulatory leeway to take into consideration mitigating circumstances, and that’s what he did when recommending no initial penalties for the scopolamine positives.

“It is inherently unfair to hold somebody to a classification that is outdated because of regulatory inefficiency,” Arthur said.

But Petersen, the CHRB attorney, said regardless of Arthur’s intent and interpretation, that’s not how the scopolamine rule was on the books at the time Justify and Hoppertunity tested positive.

“It is true that scopolamine was later reclassified as Class 4. But that did not happen until January 2019,” Petersen said.

In concluding remarks, Robertson urged the stewards to consider the wider, precedent-setting implications of not allowing the scopolamine adjudications from 2018 to remain intact.

“You, as stewards, always have discretion to do what’s right and just,” Robertson said. “And not only do you have that discretion, you should exercise that discretion. Not just for the parties in this case, but for the horse industry as a whole.”

CHRB steward John Herbuveaux, who moderated the proceedings, cautioned all parties at the conclusion of the hearing that a decision is “not going to be something that’s going to happen in the very near future.”

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After Extended Hearing, No Decision Expected Soon On Justify/Hoppertunity DQ Question

After a five-hour marathon hearing, there is no decision yet on the question of whether Justify may be disqualified from his win in the 2018 Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby or whether Hoppertunity could be disqualified from his win in the G3 Tokyo City Cup on the following day. Stewards heard evidence from attorneys on a California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) complaint, which sought disqualification of the horses but no action against trainer Bob Baffert due to post-race tests for scopolamine.

“Once I get the transcript [from Thursday's hearing], it will take me a little while to write a decision, whatever that decision will be,” said steward John Herbuveaux, who led the proceedings. “It's not going to be something that will happen within the very near future.

“I would also like to state for the record that whatever decision this board comes to, it is appealable.”

The CHRB made the decision in a closed-doors executive session in summer 2018 not to pursue disciplinary action or disqualify horses after a cluster of positive tests for scopolamine across multiple barns, which CHRB staff determined was a result of exposure to jimsonweed in hay. The CHRB recently settled a civil suit with Bolt d'Oro owner Mick Ruis, whose horse finished behind Justify in the Santa Anita Derby, and agreed to file a complaint seeking disqualification as part of that settlement. Connections of Justify and Hoppertunity subsequently filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent the stewards from hearing the case. The application for that restraining order was denied.

According to testimony on Thursday, CHRB investigators questioned barn staff and hay suppliers after getting positive scopolamine test results to learn more about how a scopolamine exposure may have occurred. CHRB equine medical director Dr. Rick Arthur said investigators took samples of plants from the area where hay was grown for the Santa Anita backstretch and discovered jimsonweed.

Arthur, who was called to testify by Bob Baffert attorney Craig Robertson, has not changed his position on the scopolamine finding, stating that he believes it was a clear case of contamination.

“You should really look at this as a horse poisoning,” Arthur said.

Arthur said he viewed the scopolamine case as similar to that of zilpaterol findings, which have been linked to feed contamination in most situations. The board did not pursue action in those cases because it was accepted that exposure to the substance was beyond the connections' control. In total, Arthur said there were 15 other cases of horses testing positive for scopolamine at the time, of which five were over the screening limit.

Dr. Steven Barker, professor emeritus at the Louisiana State University's School of Veterinary Medicine and longtime director of LSU's Equine Medication Surveillance Laboratory, testified that scopolamine would have no impact on a horse's performance in the levels found in Justify and Hoppertunity. Scopolamine has been used in a therapeutic capacity in humans for its impacts on smooth muscle, soothing motion sickness and nausea, and was used for a time in horses to combat gas colic. It has since been replaced with buscopan, which unlike scopolamine, doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier and impact behavior.

“It's more likely to have a detrimental effect on a horse who was positive,” Barker said of scopolamine's impact on performance, noting that it has been found to have a sedation-like effect when used therapeutically.

For the amount of scopolamine detected in Justify and Hoppertunity, Barker said they would have needed to eat roughly 11 grams and 6 grams of jimsonweed respectively — which he thought was very possible, given that the baling process may unevenly distribute small amounts of any given weed across different bales or flakes.

Robert Patterson, counsel for the CHRB, seemed uninterested in whether the substance had an impact on Justify's performance and focused instead on the letter of California regulation at the time of his race in 2018. Patterson asserted that California regulations designated scopolamine as a Class 3 substance then, and those regulations stated that horses completing races in the state with positive tests for Class 1, 2, or 3 substances afterwards shall be disqualified. Scopolamine was made a Class 4 substance at the start of 2019 in California.

Robertson disagreed that the substance's Class 3 status was binding. California regulation is designed to keep pace with the classification system put out by the Association of Racing Commissioners International (ARCI), which changed its classification of scopolamine much earlier than January 2019. California law prohibits a state agency from incorporating a rule by reference, meaning each time ARCI changes its guidelines, the CHRB has to draft and pass rule changes anew. Robertson said ARCI had the substance as a Class 4 at the time of Justify's start in the Santa Anita Derby, but the CHRB hadn't updated its regulations yet. Robertson believes that because the intent of California's rule is to mirror suggestions of ARCI, Baffert and the other connections shouldn't be punished for the Board failing to keep its regulations current.

Beyond that, attorneys for Justify's connections expressed frustration at the potential impacts of a disqualification so long after the race.

Amanda Groves, representing WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and Mike Smith, said that the proceedings are “creating a cloud of uncertainty, the dreaded asterisk that goes next to some athletes' names.”

“It has had a negative effect on Justify's reputation and standing in the community of horse owners,” she said.

Further, Robertson questioned how a decision to disqualify the horse now could open a Pandora's Box for other Board decisions that could be finalized and reconsidered — and for the sport's reputation.

“We're going to kill the sport if we don't stop cases like this going forward,” said Robertson. “Every time we use the words 'drug positive' or 'disqualification' there are certain members of the press who are not fans f the sport and want to see it go away, they latch onto those words and flash it out there … the general public reads it and thinks a horse is being drugged, and that's not true.

“I urge the Board not to give them that headline.”

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