craig robertson | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert’s Attorney Prepared To File Temporary Restraining Order Allowing Medina Spirit To Enter Preakness

Craig Roberston, attorney for trainer Bob Baffert, told the Daily Racing Form on Monday that he is prepared to file a temporary restraining order if Pimlico Race Course attempts to deny Medina Spirit entry into Saturday's Preakness Stakes.

The Preakness Stakes draw was originally scheduled for Monday, but Pimlico management pushed entries back to Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern following Baffert's Sunday morning announcement that the Kentucky Derby winner had tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone.

Robertson said he planned to reach out to Pimlico on Monday regarding the legal issues involved with denying Medina Spirit entry to the Preakness. Only the first post-race sample has been tested at this point; this is not enough to disqualify Medina Spirit. That would be possible after the results are confirmed by a second test of the split sample, which has yet to be completed.

Until that point, banning Medina Spirit from the Preakness would be a violation of Baffert's due process rights, Robertson argued.

Churchill Downs made the announcement Sunday afternoon that it would ban Baffert-trained runners from entering, but Robertson said that legal battle has been put on the back-burner until the Preakness situation is resolved.

“We don't even have an official positive yet,” Robertson told DRF. “Any decision to ban him, by anyone, be it Churchill or Pimlico or anyone else, is unlawful.”

Baffert Reveals Betamethasone Positive for Derby Winner Medina Spirit

Bob Baffert told the media Sunday morning at Churchill Downs that his stable was informed by the Kentucky Racing Commission that GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) has tested positive for the medication betamethasone. Betamethasone is a corticosteroid.

During a 10-minute news conference (click for video), Baffert repeatedly proclaimed his innocence.

“All I can tell you is that betamethasone is an allowed therapeutic medication, but we did not give it to this horse,” Baffert said. “In fact, Medina Spirit has never been treated with Betamethasone. I cannot believe that I am here before you guys. Yesterday, I got the biggest gut punch in racing for something I did not do.”

Baffert said Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of the drug in his system.

Baffert said that Kentucky racing officials contacted his assistant, Jimmy Barnes, on Saturday to give him the news, which he then relayed to Baffert.

For the sport's most prominent trainer, Sunday's news was the latest in a series of drug positives related to the Baffert stable. In each case, the Hall of Fame trainer has denied any wrongdoing.

This story will be updated.

The post Baffert Reveals Betamethasone Positive for Derby Winner Medina Spirit appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Baffert: Kentucky Derby Winner Medina Spirit Tests Positive For Betamethasone

Trainer Bob Baffert announced Sunday morning that Medina Spirit, winner of the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on May 1, has tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid, and faces a possible disqualification from the race – the first medication DQ since Dancer's Image lost his Derby victory in 1968 after a disputed positive test for the anti-inflammatory phenylbutazone.

If the drug is confirmed in a split sample it would be Baffert's fifth medication violation since May 2020.

Baffert said his assistant, Jimmy Barnes called Baffert yesterday while he was en route to the airport in California for a flight to Kentucky, notifying him that he had been served by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission after the post-race sample came back positive for 21 picograms of the medication.

Baffert insisted Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone. “I don't know what's going on, but there's something that is not right,” Baffert said.

“it's not official till the split sample comes. Usually we wait fo that, but I wanted to get in front of it,” Baffert said.

A split sample typically is requested by the trainer and, if it confirms the original finding, a hearing is conducted with stewards.

Last November, in the wake of his fourth medication violation in 2020, Baffert issued a statement saying, “I want to raise the bar and set the standard for equine safety and rule compliance going forward.”

Baffert-trained Chalatan and Gamine both tested positive for lidocaine at Oaklawn Park on May 2, 2020, resulting in a 15-day suspension for the trainer and disqualification of both horses (Gamine from an allowance race and Charlatan from the G1 Arkansas Derby) – sanctions that were ultimately reversed by the Arkansas Racing Commission. Baffert was fined $5,000 instead.

Gamine then tested positive for betamethasone after a third-place finish in the G1 Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 4. She was disqualified and placed last and Baffert was fined $1,500. A fourth positive test came when Merneith was found to have dextrorphan in her system after finishing second in a July 25 allowance race at Del Mar. Baffert received a $2,500 fine for that violation.

The post Baffert: Kentucky Derby Winner Medina Spirit Tests Positive For Betamethasone appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Arkansas: Baffert’s Lidocaine Hearings Scheduled For April 19, 20

According to the Daily Racing Form, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been scheduled for hearings on April 19 and 20 with the Arkansas Racing Commission over a pair of lidocaine positives at Oaklawn Park in 2020.

The two horses testing positive for the Class B substance were Charlatan, winner of the G1 Arkansas Derby on May 2, and Gamine, winner of an allowance race on the same card.

After news of the positives was leaked last year, 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.

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

Both Gamine and Charlatan were disqualified from their victories, and Baffert was suspended for 15 days.