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‘There Hasn’t Even Been Any Talk About Another Trainer’: Juvenile Winner Corniche Will Return To Baffert After WinStar Vacation

Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Corniche will return to the barn of embattled trainer Bob Baffert after a freshening at WinStar, according to a report in the Daily Racing Form, despite the ban imposed on Baffert by Churchill Downs.

That action has made Baffert trainees ineligible for the next two editions of the Kentucky Derby, and also prevents horses trained by Baffert from accumulating any points toward the Run for the Roses.

Owned by Peter Fluor's Speedway Stable, Corniche is undefeated in three career starts, including the G1 American Pharoah Stakes. The son of Quality Road was a $1,500,000 purchase at the OBS April sale, selected by Marette Farrell.

“Peter wants to be loyal,” Farrell told DRF. “Corniche won the Breeders' Cup, and he's a possible 2-year-old champion. No decisions have been made — there hasn't even been any talk about another trainer, or who he'd go to if he needs to go to another trainer. If the time comes that a decision needs to be made, if it needs to be that way, we'll put our heads together and make a decision.”

Report: Corniche to Freshen at WinStar Before Returning to Baffert

Presumptive 2-year-old champion male and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile hero Corniche (Quality Road) will be freshened briefly at WinStar Farm in Kentucky this winter before returning to Bob Baffert's barn, according to a report in Daily Racing Form. Marette Farrell, who purchased the $1.5-million colt for Speedway Stable, said Corniche was sent to Kentucky last Wednesday.

“It's time to give him a little bit of a break,” Farrell told DRF. “Speedway likes to use WinStar for lay-ups. He can be turned out, graduate to a paddock, and they have a track, too. It's important to get a break mentally. A change of scenery is good for all of us.”

The ongoing subplot regarding Corniche and Baffert's other potential GI Kentucky Derby contenders is what the respective ownerships will do with their horses as the Derby, now a little over five months away, inches closer on the calendar. Baffert was suspended for two years from running horses at Churchill Downs after his Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for an overage of betamethasone in this year's Derby.

If that suspension holds, it would likely prompt owners to move their horses from Baffert in time to run in the May 7 Derby. But for now, Peter Fluor and KC Weiner's Speedway is staying loyal to Baffert, as Farrell said the plan is to return Corniche to Baffert's barn at Santa Anita after his freshening.

“Peter wants to be loyal,” she said. “Corniche won the Breeders' Cup, and he's a possible 2-year-old champion. No decisions have been made–there hasn't even been any talk about another trainer, or who he'd go to if he needs to go to another trainer. If the time comes that a decision needs to be made, if it needs to be that way, we'll put our heads together and make a decision.”

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Quality Road OBS April Topper Lives Up to Hype, Earns ‘Rising Stardom’

Corniche (c, 2, Quality Road–Wasted Tears, by Najran), the $1.5-million OBS April topper earlier this spring, lived up to his lofty reputation with a 'TDN Rising Star' debut performance for Bob Baffert at Del Mar Saturday evening.

The 1-2 favorite caught a flyer beneath Hall of Famer Mike Smith and cleared the field from his wide draw in post 10. He led them comfortably through early fractions of :21.72 and :45.13, kicked for home in complete control and cruised under the wire after a shake of the reins to a facile 4 1/4-length victory. Apprehend (Arrogate) was second.

The final time for 5 1/2 furlongs was a sharp 1:03.01. Corniche becomes the 10th 'Rising Star' for Quality Road.

The son of six-time GSW and GI Matriarch S. runner-up Wasted Tears (Najran) was led out unsold on a bid of $385,000 at KEESEP last year, but turned in a smooth sales breeze in :10 flat to become one of two horses to eclipse the seven-figure barrier in Ocala.

Wasted Tears, also responsible for the late stakes-placed Coffee Crush (Medaglia d'Oro), had a filly by Mendelssohn in 2020.

Speedway Stables and Baffert also teamed up for a win with Quality Road's 'Rising Star' Roadster in the 2019 GI Santa Anita Derby and a runner-up finish in the GI Malibu S.

10th-Del Mar, $72,500, Msw, 9-4, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:03.01, ft, 4 1/4 lengths.
CORNICHE, c, 2, by Quality Road
1st Dam: Wasted Tears (MGSW & GISP, $941,463), by Najran
2nd Dam: Wishes and Roses, by Greinton (GB)
3rd Dam: Anniversary Wish, by Beau's Eagle
Sales history: $385,000 RNA Ylg '20 KEESEP; $1,500,000 2yo '21 OBSAPR. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $42,000. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG. Click for the free Equineline.com catalog-style pedigree.
O-Speedway Stables LLC; B-Bart Evans & Stonehaven Steadings (KY); T-Bob Baffert.

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Five Owners On The Verge Of Leaving Bob Baffert Over NYRA Ban, Legal Filing Reveals

According to the Thoroughbred Daily News, Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered attorneys for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert to divulge specific names relating to his claim in a July 7 affidavit stating: “I have recently had conversations with other owners who have stated that they may move their horses to other trainers if the New York suspension continues.”

A one-page letter filed on Friday revealed five names: “Gavin Murphy of SF Bloodstock; Jack Wolf of Starlight Racing; Peter Fluor of Speedway Stable; Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables; and George Bolton.”

Judge Amon issued the order to reveal names of owners considering leaving Baffert's stable in response to the New York Racing Association's motion to strike the trainer's affidavit from the record.

Baffert filed suit against NYRA on June 14, nearly a month after the racing association notified the Hall of Fame trainer that he was temporarily banned from racing or stabling at NYRA tracks while the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission conducts its investigation into the post-race drug positive for Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first in the May 1 Kentucky Derby. Baffert is seeking a temporary and permanent injunction against the ban.

As defendant in the case, NYRA filed a memorandum of law on June 30 in opposition to Baffert's motion for preliminary injunction. The Jockey Club filed a brief on that same date as amicus curiae, or friend of the court, claiming that its role as keeper of the Stud Book gives it a “unique interest in ensuring that when Thoroughbreds enter the breeding shed (where they determine the future of the breed through progeny), they do so with records uninfluenced by the effects of medication.”

On July 7, attorneys for Baffert filed their own memorandum of law, which consisted of 434 pages and included an affidavit from the trainer. In the memo, Baffert's attorneys allege that NYRA has “vindictively” targeted the trainer utilizing “hypocrisy” and “backdoor” tactics. The filing also zeroes in on two legal arguments: that the ban violates the trainer's right to due process, and that NYRA has no authority to issue a ban.

That same filing also details the exodus of horses owned by WinStar Farm from Baffert's stable as an example of the type of harm that the ban will cause to the trainer's livelihood.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

Additional stories about Baffert's Kentucky Derby positive and ensuing legal battles, listed in order from most recent to the original story:

The post Five Owners On The Verge Of Leaving Bob Baffert Over NYRA Ban, Legal Filing Reveals appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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