Justify | Horse Racing Free Tips

Baffert: Medina Spirit More Of A Silver Charm Than An American Pharoah

A favorite interview standby for turfwriters speaking to a jockey, trainer, or owner with historical success is to ask them to compare their most successful horses to each other. Who is better than who? Who reminds you of who? Trainer Bob Baffert, who is asked this sort of question often, was queried on Thursday's NTRA national media teleconference about the similarities between Derby winner Medina Spirit and Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.

Baffert said the colt by Protonico reminded him of neither champion, but did harken back to some more vintage runners.

The trainer has made no secret of the fact he was surprised by Saturday's result.

“After watching the race, it was pretty impressive because he didn't get an easy lead,” he said. “He carved out some serious fractions; it wasn't a gimme. Turning for home when the swarm came, I was expecting all those horses to go by him and he just dug in and outran them all to the wire. I just kept thinking of Cavonnier — I didn't want to get too excited.”

Cavonnier was Baffert's great hope for the roses in 1996, and is best remembered for a breathless finish fighting off a late charge from D. Wayne Lukas-trained Grindstone after dealing with a smack to the face from Craig Perret, who accidentally struck the gelding with his whip while urging on Halo Sunshine. Though the official margin indicates Grindstone prevailed by a nose, many on site that day swore it was a dead heat. Cavonnier would go on to be fourth in the Preakness and pull up with a badly-bowed tendon in the Belmont. Two and a half years later, Baffert got him back to the races for a win in the 1998 Ack Ack. Cavonnier would leave the track in 2000 a hometown, homebred hero in Sonoma County, Calif., where he was born. A 2016 feature by the Press Democrat indicated that the family who bred Cavonnier retired him to a life of leisure at a ranch in western Sonoma County.

Medina Spirit was 12-1 when the gates opened, and Baffert said he could see why. It was a tough field and although he had solid finishes in his prep races, Medina Spirit hadn't looked dominant. He's also not a hugely physically imposing horse — he's not short at 16.1 hands, but is a light-framed creature.

“I really can't compare him to a horse like American Pharoah or Justify,” said Baffert. “They were superior horses that came in with the Beyers were off the charts, the numbers were faster. He's getting better though. We've learned a lot about that horse.

“He reminds me of Silver Charm. He's gutty. He's going to fight, give you that extra. He's a courageous horse. When he turned for home, he had every reason…I really thought Mandaloun was going to go on by him and he would not let him by. He did that in the Robert Lewis, where Hot Rod Charlie and all these horses came to him, and he went really, really fast early. I noticed that day when he came back, he wasn't tired, he wasn't blowing hard.

“All these good horses, they have a set of lungs on them. And you can't worry about what they cost. Real Quiet was the same way, he only cost $17,000. Actually Silver Charm was a $15,000 yearling, you know. We never take their cost into consideration.”

Neither do they.

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American Pharoah, Justify To Shuttle To Coolmore Australia For 2021 Southern Hemisphere Breeding Season

The Coolmore Australia stallion roster for 2021 sees the introduction of one of the very best proven sires in Europe and one of the very best 2-year-olds in Australia.

“We are very excited to welcome Wootton Bassett, a Group 1-winning champion 2-year-old on the track and one of the most exciting sires in Europe, to our roster.” said Coolmore Australia's sales and nominations manager, Colm Santry. “He will join Redoute's Choice's dual Group1-winning son King's Legacy, in a line-up headed by multiple champion sire Fastnet Rock, who is coming off one of the most successful seasons of his illustrious career.”

Wootton Bassett – with a first crop of only 23 foals conceived at a fee of just €6,000 – exploded on the sire scene courtesy of son Almanzor, triple Group 1-winning champion of his generation, whose first Australasian yearlings this year proved a great hit with buyers.

Wootton Bassett has also sired the likes of dual Group 1-winning filly Audarya, conceived at a fee of only €4,000, and Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye (1000m.) winning colt Wooded, from a €6,000 fee, while his 2-year-old crop of last year included Group 2 winner and 2,000 Guineas candidate Chindit.

In such esteem is Wootton Bassett held that in Europe he currently commands a fee of €100,000 (AUS$155,000), highlighting the great value he affords Australian breeders at his introductory fee of only AUS$71,500.

King's Legacy needs little introduction, winner as he was last year of both the Group 1 Sires' Produce and Group 1 Champagne Stakes. The most accomplished juvenile of his generation, with the impeccable good looks to cost AUS$1,400,000 as a yearling, he is also the only son of Redoute's Choice ever to win multiple Group 1 races at two. Closely related to Not A Single Doubt, from the family of successful sire Snippets, King's Legacy will stand his first season at a fee of AUS$33,000.

These two new boys join a roster laden with proven Group 1 sires like Fastnet Rock, Pierro, So You Think and American Pharoah, last-named, along with Justify, U.S. Triple Crown winners at great-value fees.

With a support cast of outstanding sprinters like Yes Yes Yes and Merchant Navy, Group One Guineas winners like Churchill, Magna Grecia and Saxon Warrior joining explosive two-year-old stars like Royal Ascot Coventry Stakes winner Calyx, Blue Diamond winner Pride Of Dubai and Golden Slipper winner Vancouver, the Coolmore Australia roster really does offer a sire to suit every mare at a price for every pocket.

Sire 2021 Fee (inc. GST)

Adelaide – AUS$5,500

American Pharoah – AUS$49,500

Calyx – AUS$13,750

Churchill – AUS$22,000

Fastnet Rock – AUS$165,000

Justify – AUS$55,000

King's Legacy (NEW) – AUS$33,000

Magna Grecia – AUS$19,250

Merchant Navy – AUS$33,000

Pierro – AUS$110,000

Pride Of Dubai – AUS$22,000

Saxon Warrior – AUS$13,750

So You Think – AUS$77,000

Vancouver – AUS$22,000

Wootton Bassett (NEW) – AUS$71,500

Yes Yes Yes – AUS$38,500

Rubick and Highland Reel will stand at Swettenham Stud in association with Coolmore

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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.

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Letter To The Editor: ‘Petty Jealousy And Elitism’ The Motivations Behind MyRacehorse Bashing

Dear horse racing Twitter, and the industry at large:

Do better. Stop shooting yourself in the foot. Stop creating division and strife where there is no reason for it; we have enough issues as a sport.

Over the weekend, yet another tweet made the rounds mocking a MyRacehorse owner. While there were prominent industry members that defended the legitimacy of ownership through micro shares, there were multitudes chiming in with condescending disdain for the “fake” ownership through MyRacehorse.

For years, the industry has discussed and lamented how to bring in new participants. No significant changes have occurred since the creation of syndicates, until MyRacehorse. When the model was first launched, I was skeptical. However, there is no denying that the model is working. MyRacehorse is bringing in thousands of new owners to the industry, and yet somehow many in and around the industry view that as a bad thing.

In the “Sport of Kings,” one of the greatest appeals is the ability for the underdog to win at the highest level. Yes, million-dollar horses win the Kentucky Derby, but so do California-breds that would have brought a small fraction of that price if offered at auction. When syndicates like Team Valor, West Point, or Starlight win the Derby, their co-owners are not met with challenges to the legitimacy of their ownership. Yet it seemed as soon as Authentic crossed the wire, Twitter was exploding with condescension for the ecstatic micro shareholders. So, what is the difference?

Was Animal Kingdom celebrated because he was trained by Graham Motion, and not Bob Baffert? Did the shareholders in Authentic just suffer as collateral damage from “Baffert in the winner's circle” fatigue? That can't be it, because there was no issue with the Starlight partners in Justify, also trained by Baffert. Likewise, Starlight bought in after Justify had broken his maiden, so it can't be that MyRacehorse bought in later.

As a $350,000 yearling, Authentic brought the same price as Always Dreaming. With syndicate owned Derby winners selling for much more and much less, he was neither “too expensive” nor “too cheap” to support.

The only true difference that can be noted in the industry's reception to successful syndicates seems to be share price. It is the height of ignorant elitism to think that writing a bigger check makes you more of an owner. Any individual willing to spend their money to own any piece of a horse is an owner. Working with syndicates, and advocating for ownership through them, I have said, “Nobody asks how much of the horse you own when you're in the winner's circle” many times. And that was true, until MyRacehorse.

Are people jealous they didn't come up with the model first? Or that they chose not to buy in and have missed out on ownership of some truly spectacular horses? Do they feel that owners with MyRacehorse didn't suffer through enough failure to have “earned” the levels of success achieved? I truly don't know the answer, but there isn't an explanation I have come up with that is anything other than petty and self-sabotaging.

The one argument I've seen that almost makes sense is that MyRacehorse is a “scam.” I say almost makes sense because they are the most transparent entity I have seen. The reason everyone can criticize share prices and number of owners is because that information is readily available. They can complain about fees, and claim to be defending those buying in, because those fees are explicitly stated on the website. MyRacehorse is utterly open about what your financial contribution goes to, from acquisition of the horse, to training costs, to overhead and management fees. And you know who I've not yet seen complain about those things? Actual MyRacehorse owners. I have seen them defend their ownership, I have seen them express gratitude for all the information provided ahead of commitment, I've seen them brag about the access to their horses they have, and I have seen them celebrate their horses on the track.

And the part the entire industry should be celebrating? I have seen them progress to individual ownership.

As MyRacehorse continues to blaze new trails in the industry, they appear to be striving to continue to bring in more owners, and to help those owners fulfill their horse ownership dreams, whether that is always at the micro share level or something more. I wish I could say it's baffling to me that the industry is so opposed to such a positive force of change, but it's really just par for the course. The industry faces a multitude of challenges to long term success, and is consistently divided on every aspect of them. While most issues have legitimate arguments on both sides, there is no reason to dismiss new participants for not spending enough money on the sport other than petty jealousy and elitism. As an industry, we need to do better.

*I do not work for nor do I own shares through MyRacehorse

–Erin O'Keefe, Farm Manager & Bloodstock Services, BTE Stables

If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.

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