otomax | Horse Racing Free Tips

Horseplayers Sue Baffert, Zedan Racing Over Medina Spirit Drug Test

Four horseplayers have filed a class-action lawsuit against trainer Bob Baffert and Medina Spirit's owner, Zedan Racing, over the results of the May 1 Kentucky Derby in which Medina Spirit finished first but now is in jeopardy of being disqualified after Baffert revealed the horse failed a post-race drug test.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California by 2012 National Horseplayers Championship winner Michael Beychok of Louisiana; Justin Wunderler of New Jersey (known on Twitter as frequent Baffert critic @SwiftHitter); Michael Meegan of New York; and Keith Mauer of California. They allege they were denied winning bets on the Kentucky Derby in amounts ranging from $100 to as much as $100,000 because of Baffert's “multiple and repeated acts of doping and entering horses into Thoroughbred races, including the Kentucky Derby” that the complaint said constitutes “racketeering activity” under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and laws of the state of California, where Baffert and his stable are based.

Their bets were placed on Mandaloun and other horses in various wagering pools, but were deemed losers when Medina Spirit crossed the wire first and was declared the “official” winner. Eight days after the Derby, Baffert revealed that the 3-year-old Protonico colt tested positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone and Churchill Downs issued a statement immediately suspending Baffert from racing at the Louisville, Ky., track while the matter is being investigated. While only stewards representing the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission may disqualify horses, the track's statement said Medina Spirit would be disqualified from his Derby win if a split sample confirms the presence of the drug.

The suit was also filed on behalf of “all others similarly situated,” more specifically, “All Kentucky Derby bettors who would have won their bets and winnings had Medina Spirit been properly prohibited from competing in the Kentucky Derby…or competed without the aid of an illegal drug.”

Betamethasone is a legal therapeutic medication used to treat various maladies in horses but its presence is not permitted at any level in post-race drug tests. Baffert first claimed the horse or test sample were contaminated with betamethasone and days later said the positive test may have been caused by a prescription ointment, Otomax, that includes betamethasone as an active ingredient. Baffert said the ointment was used to treat dermatitis after Medina Spirit raced in the Santa Anita Derby on April 3.

In addition to allegations that Baffert violated the federal RICO Act through an enterprise with Zedan Racing “engaged in activities affecting interstate commerce,” the plaintiffs also claim they and the class members were defrauded by a “misrepresentation” by Baffert in November 2020 after a series of medication violations that he was retaining Dr. Michael Hore to “ensure rule compliance” for his stable. A news report earlier this week claims that did not happen.

The plaintiffs are asking the suit to be certified by the court as a class action case and seeking damages that include monetary relief for attorney fees and other expenses, injunctive relief “enjoining the Baffert defendants from engaging in any further racketeering acts,” Imposition of “reasonable restrictions” on Baffert's future activities in Thoroughbred racing, payment to the plaintiffs and class members for money they would have won “but for the illegal doping of Medina Spirit,” plus treble and punitive damages.

Craig Robertson, attorney for Baffert, said the lawsuit was “completely frivolous and without legal merit.”

Read the complaint here

The post Horseplayers Sue Baffert, Zedan Racing Over Medina Spirit Drug Test appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

The Friday Show Presented By Uptowncharlybrown Stud: The Lowdown On Betamethasone

Dr. Kate Papp is an equine veterinarian in Pennsylvania who, in 2012, told a Congressional hearing that “the overuse and abuse of medication is rampant at our Thoroughbred racetracks and training centers.”

Her testimony was prescient. One year later, the FBI arrested a number of trainers, veterinarians and racing officials in a federal probe into doping and corruption at Penn National race course in Grantville, Pa.

Dr. Papp, who operates Hillcrest Meadow Equine and devotes considerable time and resources to the paracehorse.org rehoming, rehabilitation and rescue aftercare program, joins Paulick Report publisher Ray Paulick and editor-in-chief Natalie Voss to discuss the topic of the week – betamethasone, the drug found in the post-race sample of Medina Spirit after his first-place finish in the May 1 Kentucky Derby.

Bloodstock editor Joe Nevills drops by for his weekly Toast to Vino Rosso, a look at one of the first-crop foals by Spendthrift Farm's Breeders' Cup Classic-winning son of Curlin.

Watch this week's show, presented by Uptowncharlybrown Stud, below:

The post The Friday Show Presented By Uptowncharlybrown Stud: The Lowdown On Betamethasone appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Raising The Bar? Hore’s Advisory Role With Baffert ‘Did Not Materialize As Intended’

In November of 2020, trainer Bob Baffert announced that he was retaining Dr. Michael Hore of Hagyard Equine Medical Institute to “add an additional layer of protection to ensure the well-being of horses in my care and rule compliance.”

Hore is based in Lexington, Ky., while Baffert's operation is based in Southern California. Hore is not licensed to practice veterinary medicine in the state of California. The state's database also contains data on expired/inactive licenses, and he does not appear to have ever had a veterinary license there. Veterinarians are permitted to consult on cases without being licensed in the state, but cannot do diagnostics or perform any treatment.

In the wake of this week's announcement that Baffert's trainee Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone after winning on the sport's biggest stage in the Kentucky Derby, Dr. Hore told bloodhorse.com that the role with Baffert did not materialize.

“Following some initial discussions with Bob and one of my colleagues last fall—and his announcement regarding new procedures to ensure no further medication issues—our role in those procedures did not materialize as intended, because of travel and other restrictions related to COVID-19. He is based in California, we are based in Kentucky,” Baffert's attorney wrote in an email to bloodhorse.com.

Backstretch traffic at Santa Anita has been restricted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, including in November 2020, although licensed veterinarians have always been permitted access to see clients. Veterinarians requesting a racetrack veterinarian license must first have a state veterinary license.

Also in Baffert's fall announcement to “raise the bar and set the standard for equine safety and rule compliance,” the Hall of Fame trainer pledged to both increase “the training and awareness of all my employees when it comes to proper protocols,” and to increase his own “oversight and commitment to running a tight ship and being careful that protective measures are in place.”

Yet, on Tuesday, 48 hours after his initial press conference announcing the positive test, Baffert claimed that Medina Spirit's betamethasone positive may have stemmed from the use of a topical ointment called Otomax. Baffert claimed the ointment was prescribed by a veterinarian to treat a skin condition called dermatitis on Medina Spirit's hind end; betamethasone is listed on the Otomax label as a primary ingredient.

Baffert had been the subject of public criticism prior to this week's announcement about Medina Spirit's test, following a series of positive post-race tests for therapeutic drugs in his barn during 2020.

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.

Hore is a surgeon at Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, which is based in Lexington, Ky. According to Hagyard's website, he specializes in digital radiographs, sales work, lameness, and angular limb deformities and practices in Kentucky, Florida, Maryland, New York, and Europe. Hore is credited with being part of the team that shortlisted Charlatan, Authentic, and Justify for SF Bloodstock. He was also among the veterinarians who signed a settlement agreement with the Kentucky Board of Veterinary Examiners last year after self-reporting for misdating radiographs ahead of public auction.

The post Raising The Bar? Hore’s Advisory Role With Baffert ‘Did Not Materialize As Intended’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Commentary: ‘Neither Ignorance Nor Carelessness Make For Much Of An Excuse’

“First, Bob Baffert said it didn't happen. Now, he says it doesn't matter. He is wrong on both counts.”

So writes Tim Sullivan of the Louisville, Ky.-based Courier-Journal, who was one of a handful of reporters attending a Sunday morning press conference at which Baffert announced the finding of 21 picograms of betamethasone in the post-race sample of his Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit.

Baffert's claim that morning was the the horse had never been treated with betamethasone, and he and his team had no idea how the medication could have been found in Medina Spirit's system.

Two days later, the story has changed. On Tuesday morning, Baffert released a statement (through his attorney Craig Robinson) indicating that Medina Spirit has been treated with a topical medication containing betamethasone for over 3 1/2 weeks. Otomax, the ointment indicated in that statement, was prescribed to help with a skin condition called dermatitis.

“Horse racing must address its regulatory problem when it comes to substances which can innocuously find their way into a horse's system at the picogram (which is a trillionth of a gram) level,” Baffert's statement said. “Medina Spirit earned his Kentucky Derby win and my pharmacologists have told me that 21 picograms of betamethasone would have no effect on the outcome of the race.”

As Sullivan wrote in his commentary Tuesday afternoon, the positive test DID happen, and it DOES matter, despite the claims of the Hall of Fame trainer and his attorney.

Neither the amount of the medication nor the intent with which it was used matter when it comes to disqualification of the horse: if a split sample test confirms the presence of any amount of betamethasone, Kentucky regulations call for both disqualification and loss of purse money.

Sullivan summarized: “Should Medina Spirit's split sample confirm the findings of the first test — as nearly all split samples do — Baffert's best strategy might be to claim mitigating circumstances. Neither ignorance nor carelessness make for much of an excuse, but they sure beat denying what turns out to be true.”