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‘I’ve Learned Who My Friends Are’: Baffert Opens Up For The First Time Since May

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert spoke to the Los Angeles Times this week regarding Medina Spirit's post-Kentucky Derby positive for betamethasone, the first time he's addressed the therapeutic medication overage publicly since May.

“I've learned who my friends are,” Baffert said of the last five months. “It's truly painful when you know what the truth is. There have been so many false narratives that have come up and the hearing process isn't even done yet. The consolation is knowing the truth will come out as the process plays out.”

On June 2, Baffert was banned from participation at tracks owned by Churchill Downs for two years after Zedan Racing Stables Inc.'s Medina Spirit failed a drug test following his first-place finish in this year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

The positive test for the corticosteroid betamethasone on May 1 was Baffert's fifth failed drug test in 365 days, beginning with two lidocaine positives for Charlatan and Gamine at Oaklawn Park on May 2, 2020 – Charlatan's bad test coming in the G1 Arkansas Derby and eventual filly and mare sprint champion Gamine testing positive after an allowance win. Both Charlatan and Gamine were disqualified from their victories by Oaklawn stewards, but the Arkansas Racing Commission reinstated the wins, overturned a 15-day suspension of the trainer and fined him $10,000.

Baffert was fined $2,500 by California Horse Racing Board stewards after Merneith tested positive for dextromethorphan at Del Mar in July 2020 and then Gamine tested positive for a second time – this time for betamethasone – after a third-place finish in the G1 Kentucky Oaks on Sept. 4, 2020. She was disqualified and Baffert was fined $1,500.

Additional stories about Baffert's Kentucky Derby positive and ensuing legal battles can be found here.

Maryland Commission Unanimously Decides To Dismiss Amicar Penalties

The Maryland Racing Commission voted unanimously on Thursday to dismiss penalties for five horses found to have the adjunct anti-bleeding medication Amicar in their post-race drug tests, reports The Racing Biz. The MRC made the decision based on advice from the medication committee.

Instead of the typical “Category C” penalty of disqualification and $1,000 fine, the trainers of those five horses were issued a warning. The Commission indicated that regular penalties for Amicar will resume on Aug. 1.

A total of 12 positives for Amicar (seven in harness horses) were returned in the spring after the Maryland Racing Commission changed its testing laboratory from Truesdail Laboratories in Irvine, Calif. to Industrial Laboratories in Wheat Ridge, Colo.

Those positives caused the Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association to issue a warning to trainers in late June, stating that utilizing Amicar or similar adjunct medications, for which there are no recommended withdrawal times, “runs the risk of a post-race positive test.”

Though the Thoroughbred trainers were not punished for the positives, the harness cases had already adjudicated with Category C penalties. MRC chairman Emmitt Davitt said the commission would research how to rescind those penalties issued to harness horsemen.

Around the same time, Thoroughbred trainer Claudio Gonzalez was notified that two of his runners had tested positive for the corticosteroid dexamethasone, and told the Paulick Report he believed the positives were due to the change in labs. Several other trainers were also notified of similar positives, and the MTHA issued another warning to horsemen in early July about dexamethasone usage. The commission will likely consider those positives at its next monthly meeting.

Prairie Meadows Stewards Hand Down One-Year Ban To Trainer Robert Roe

Trainer Robert Roe has been banned from racing for one year and fined $1,000, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News. The ban was handed down by stewards at Prairie Meadows Racetrack after Roe admitted to accidentally spilling a banned substance into an equine feed supplement, and his trainee Candy My Boy subsequently tested positive.

The horse returned positive tests for active ingredients in a natural substance marketed as kratom after finishing second in races on Sept. 20 and Sept. 28. During a hearing on Oct. 22, Roe testified that he had purchased the substance for himself. He said he was aware he'd spilled the kratom into the joint supplement, but did not believe he'd spilled enough to affect the horse.

Candy My Boy was put on the vet's list for 180 days, and disqualified from both second-place finishes.

While not illegal in the United States, drugabuse.gov reports that kratom contains “compounds that can have psychotropic (mind-altering) effects (…) Kratom can cause effects similar to both opioids and stimulants (…) When kratom is taken in small amounts, users report increased energy, sociability, and alertness instead of sedation.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The post Prairie Meadows Stewards Hand Down One-Year Ban To Trainer Robert Roe appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Corona Virus Cancels National Children’s Riding Competition

Kentucky Horse Shows LLC and the US Equestrian Federation jointly released a statement that the last day of competition in the Kentucky Summer Classic was cancelled, as was the 2020 USEF Pony Finals presented by Collecting Gaits Farm event that was to start Tuesday. Four people tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing symptoms; two were from a barn that had travelled to the event and one other was a braider who had been in multiple barns.

The cancellation of competition will allow the competition organizer time to sanitize the venue and determine if competitions slated to go later in August are able to commence safely. Individuals who attended the competition have been notified of the positive test results. Show management is also asking those people who tested positive for a list of whom they were in close contact with from 48 hours before their symptoms arose so that those people might be notified directly of their potential exposure.

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 within 14 days after a sanctioned competition must notify the competition organizer and US Equestrian.