Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

Gabby Gaudet Joins TDN Writers’ Room

Like everyone else, Gabby Gaudet is looking forward to Keeneland’s special summer meet, which kicks off Wednesday. With 10 graded stakes races packed into a five-day schedule, she knows the meet will be special, but also different. Keeneland has never run in the summer before, and, for this meet, no spectators will be allowed to attend. As one of the hosts of the track’s simulcast feed, Gaudet’s job will be to deliver the “Keeneland experience” to people’s living rooms.

“I know people will miss Keeneland and miss being on track,” said Gaudet, this week’s Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers’ Room podcast presented by Keeneland. “Hopefully, we’ll be back in the fall. I think what we will be doing will make the transition a little bit easier for the passionate racing fan.”

Because fans aren’t allowed to attend, Keeneland is enhancing its simulcast production as part of the “Keeneland at Home” theme that will be part of the meet. Gaudet, along with Scott Hazelton, will kick things off each racing day at 11:30 with a 30-minute simulcast show previewing the day’s races. It can be viewed on Keeneland.com, the Keeneland Race Day app, Keeneland Select or CWKYT locally in Lexington. During the meet, the Keeneland simulcasting feed will also be available on the TDN website.

Once the races start, Gaudet, a regular on TVG, and Hazelton will be giving blanket coverage of the meet. Gaudet will, of course, handicap the races and give her opinions on the looks of the horses in the paddock. Since the media is not allowed in, she will also conduct numerous post-race interviews in an effort to make as much information as possible available to the writers and the fans.

“We’ll be trying to do more with the interviews after the races,” she said. “We’ll talk to the winners but also to a trainer who has a heavy favorite that loses. We will be trying to provide as much information as possible for the media and for the fans and for the public who cannot be onsite.”

Not everything will be about who wins and loses.

“There will be the entertainment and the fun element,” she said. “Keeneland will be posting some of their famous recipes, like burgoo, online. Burgoo in July doesn’t sound too appetizing, but you can print it out and put it in the cookbook for later.”

Gaudet has become one of the most visible personalities in racing. When asked what others can do to follow in her footsteps, she said the easiest way to get there is to put in a maximum effort.

“Work hard, ask questions, and don’t pretend that you know everything because you won’t get very far,” Gaudet said.

Gaudet made history earlier this year when she worked as an announcer at the Keeneland January sale, becoming the first woman to do so. She said she felt immense pressure, but would like to work more in that role in the future.

“Yes, I would definitely like to do more of it and I believe I might be doing some more at the September sale,” she said. “I haven’t confirmed that with anybody, but I believe that’s in the pipeline. That whole experience was such a whirlwind. And honestly, because of the pandemic, it feels like that happened maybe five years ago. It was a historic moment.”

Elsewhere on the show, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, the writers discussed the latest developments out of Arkansas, where, according to reports, two Bob Baffert-trained horses, Gamine and Charlatan, tested positive for the banned substance lidocaine. Earlier in the week, the split samples from both horses confirmed the positive, but Baffert has vowed to fight the impending penalties. The consensus among the writers was that Baffert was fighting an uphill battle because of the trainer’s responsibility rule.

The writers also dove into the story of Tom VanMeter, the Lexington area consignor who made racist posts on social media. Click here to listen to the podcast and click here to watch it on Vimeo.

The post Gabby Gaudet Joins TDN Writers’ Room appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Report: Baffert’s Lidocaine Findings Not Likely A Sign Of An Effort To Mask Injury

Now that the results of split sample tests are back on Bob Baffert trainees Charlatan and Gamine, both of whom won races at Oaklawn Park in early May, Baffert's attorney has confirmed the positive tests were for lidocaine. Dr. Mary Scollay, executive director and COO of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, told The Blood-Horse this week that it seems unlikely a trainer would use lidocaine intentionally to mask a lame horse before a race.

Lidocaine has a number of accepted therapeutic uses — as a topical numbing agent, it can be deployed before a veterinarian puts in stitches to a wound, or can be helpful to relieve pain or swelling from a bug bite or other skin issue in a spot that's hard to bandage. It can also be injected as a temporary nerve block as part of a standard lameness exam. In order to isolate the source of a lameness, veterinarians will carefully apply short-acting nerve blocks to work out, by process of elimination, which structures are responsible for a horse's gait abnormality and then target their diagnostic imaging from there.

It seemed unlikely to Scollay that someone would numb a horse with lidocaine before a race to mask a problem or gain a competitive advantage because it's well-known as a substance easily detected in drug tests.

Still, Scollay told writer Eric Mitchell, she's of the opinion that horses should be disqualified in the case of medication violations, because not doing so unfairly disadvantages the horse that finished second with no medication overages. In the case of Charlatan and Gamine, Arkansas guidelines would allow for disqualification and reallocation of purse money if the commission determines a violation occurred.

Baffert's attorney told media Monday the overages were the result of a pain patch a member of Baffert's staff was using to relieve back pain, and that he intends to defend the cases before the commission.

Attorney For Baffert Claims Human Back Pain Patch Caused Drug Positives For Gamine, Charlatan

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert claims that two horses in his barn were “unknowingly and innocently exposed” to a banned substance that wound up in their post-race test samples from May 2 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

Information leaked from initial testing by the Arkansas Racing Commission's contracted laboratory in late May indicated that Gamine and Charlatan both tested positive for the Class 2 drug lidocaine. Gamine won a May 2 allowance race by a neck. She subsequently won the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park on June 20 by 18 ¾ lengths. Charlatan won a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and shortly thereafter suffered a minor ankle injury that will have him sidelined until after the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby. Both horses are unbeaten in three starts.

Split samples, sent at Baffert's request to the Equine Analytical Testing Laboratory at the University of California-Davis, confirmed the findings, according to published reports.

Lidocaine is used by veterinarians during lameness examinations to “block” or numb a horse's limbs. It is also commonly found in ointments and analgesic treatments and patches to alleviate pain in humans.

A statement from Baffert's attorney, Craig Robertson, said both Gamine and Charlatan were exposed to the lidocaine from a patch worn by a member of the trainer's staff suffering back pain while tending to the horses at Oaklawn.

“Even though lidocaine is a lawful, widely available therapeutic medication, it was never intentionally administered to either Gamine or Charlatan,” the statement reads. “When test results indicated that trace amounts of lidocaine were found in both horses after their respective races on May 2, Bob Baffert and his team were shocked. Leading up to May 2, both horses were healthy and worked hard to earn their victories that day.

“After investigation,” the statement continues, “it is our belief that both Gamine and Charlatanwere unknowingly and innocently exposed to lidocaine by one of Bob's employees. The employee previously broke his pelvis and had been suffering from back pain over the two days leading up to May 2. As a result, he wore a Salonpas patch on his back that he personally applied. That brand of patch contains small amounts of lidocaine. It is believed that lidocaine from that patch was innocently transferred from the employee's hands to the horses through the application of tongue ties by the employee that was handling both horses leading up to May 2.

“What I want to make clear are the following three points: 1) This is a case of innocent exposure and not intentional administration; 2) the levels of Lidocaine found in both Gamine and Charlatan that day were extremely small – 185 picograms for Gamine (in race 7), and 46 picograms for Charlatan (in race 11). A picogram is a trillionth of a gram. 3) It is our understanding that the trace amounts of Lidocaine found in both Gamine and Charlatan would not have had any effect on either horse – much less a performance enhancing one. The extreme sensitivity of modern-day testing can now pick up trace levels of innocent contaminants that have no effect on a horse. This is an issue that regulators of horse racing need to account for and address.

“Based on these facts, we intend on defending the cases involving Gamine and Chalatan before the Arkansas Racing Commission.”

Jimmy Barnes, assistant trainer for Baffert, saddled the horses at Oaklawn in the trainer's absence. He suffered a fractured pelvis in September 2017.

Recommended penalty for a Class 2/Category B penalty drug like lidocaine is a minimum 15-day suspension and $500 fine for a first offense under Association of Racing Commissioners International Model Rules. A second offense has a 30-day penalty and $1,000 fine. Some racing commissions consider simultaneous violations of the same drug as a mitigating factor and do not increase penalties for a second offense.

The Model Rule also calls for disqualification, meaning the owners would lose the purse money from the races (Gamine earned $36,600 and Charlatan $300,000). In the case of Charlatan, the 100 qualifying points earned for the Kentucky Derby would be transferred to Basin, the second-place finisher (if the case is resolved before Sept. 5). Currently sidelined Gouverneur Morris finished third, Winning Impression fourth and Anneau d'Or fifth. Points for the Arkansas Derby division are awarded on the basis of 100-40-20-10 to the top four finishers.

Gamine is owned by Michael Lund Petersen. Charlatan is owned by the partnership of SF Racing LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables LLC, Stonestreet Stables LLC, Frederick Hertrich III, John D. Fielding and Golconda Stables.

An even bigger financial stake for the owners of Charlatan may be in the sale of breeding rights to Hill 'n' Dale Farm announced several days after the Arkansas Derby. Depending on the language and when the contract between the parties was signed, the sale price may have hinged on Charlatan being a Grade 1 winner. If the Speightstown colt is disqualified from the Arkansas Derby – his stakes debut – the sale price could be reduced by millions of dollars unless and until he officially becomes a Grade 1 winner in the future.

The post Attorney For Baffert Claims Human Back Pain Patch Caused Drug Positives For Gamine, Charlatan appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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New York Times Report: Split Sample Positive for Baffert Runners

Split samples taken from Charlatan (Speightstown) and Gamine (Into Mischief) after wins on the Arkansas Derby Day card at Oaklawn Park May 2 confirmed positive results for the local numbing agent Lidocaine, according to a report in New York Times Monday evening. Both horses are trained by Bob Baffert. Charlatan was a six-length victor in a division of the GI Arkansas Derby, while Gamine won an allowance race on the card and has since gone on to a romping victory in the GI Acorn S.

A statement released by attorney Craig Robertson on behalf of Baffert Monday, said it was believed an employee had inadvertently exposed the two horses to Lidocaine while wearing a pain-relieving Salon Pas patch. The statement also noted the trace amounts of the drug would have had no impact on the performances of the two horses.

The Arkansas Racing Commission confirmed in late May that two horses from the Baffert barn had tested positive for an illegal substance and that the trainer had requested a split sample from each be tested.

Robertson’s complete statement released Monday follows.

Even though Lidocaine is a lawful, widely available therapeutic medication, it was never intentionally administered to either Gamine or Charlatan. When test results indicated that trace amounts of Lidocaine were found in both horses after their respective races on May 2, Bob Baffert and his team were shocked. Leading up to May 2, both horses were healthy and

worked hard to earn their victories that day.

After investigation, it is our belief that both Gamine and Charlatan were unknowingly and innocently exposed to Lidocaine by one of Bob’s employees. The employee previously

broke his pelvis and had been suffering from back pain over the two days leading up to May 2.

As a result, he wore a Salon Pas patch on his back that he personally applied. That brand of patch contains small amounts of Lidocaine. It is believed that Lidocaine from that patch was

innocently transferred from the employee’s hands to the horses through the application of tongue ties by the employee that was handling both horses leading up to May 2.

What I want to make clear are the following three points:

This is a case of innocent exposure and not intentional administration.
The levels of Lidocaine found in both Gamine and Charlatan that day were extremely small–185 picograms for Gamine (in race 7), and 46 picograms for Charlatan (in race 11). A picogram is a trillionth of a gram.
It is our understanding that the trace amounts of Lidocaine found in both Gamine and Charlatan would not have had any effect on either horse–much less a performance-enhancing one. The extreme sensitivity of modern-day testing can now pick up trace levels of innocent contaminants that have no effect on a horse. This is an issue that regulators of horse racing need to account for and address.

Based on these facts, we intend on defending the cases involving Gamine and Charlatan before the Arkansas Racing Commission.

The post New York Times Report: Split Sample Positive for Baffert Runners appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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