The Greatest of All Time - Bob Baffert

[cj]

Originally Posted by cj

https://www.horseracingnation.com/ne...ine_sample_123

And from the Baffert side:

Robertson told HRN in a text message that he will respond "formally through a court filing. Suffice it to say that the statements contained in The KHRC's filing are inaccurate. We have intentionally had no direct communication with the the New York lab so we are unaware of the status of any testing or the results. We are waiting like everyone else."

[cj]

Found this one a little bit funny:

https://www.drf.com/news/baltas-yakt...le-santa-anita

[classhandicapper]

How is it that we can't even get blood and urine samples handled competently?

This is ridiculous.

[Psychotic Parakeet]

The convenience factor of a now an insufficient and mishandled sample doesn't surprise me. Baffert wins again.

[Sysonby]

Not sure what he wins, there's still the positives from the original test and the split sample. Nothing here negates those. The treatment of material that was the subject of a court order by this lab was, however, at the very least incompetent.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

How is it that we can't even get blood and urine samples handled competently?

This is ridiculous.

Remember, one of the goals of Baffert's lawyers is to create chaos. That doesn't mean there actually is chaos.

[Gamblin4ever]

Nothing will happen as usual. Baffert gets a reprieve and Medina Spirit stays KY Derby winner. Business as usual.

[Elkchester Road]

Originally Posted by Gamblin4ever

Nothing will happen as usual. Baffert gets a reprieve and Medina Spirit stays KY Derby winner. Business as usual.

If you are correct about this...Racing deserves what it gets down the road. From all angles.

[CheckMark]

https://www.drf.com/news/khrc-charge...g-split-sample

[Gamblin4ever]

Originally Posted by Elkchester Road

If you are correct about this...Racing deserves what it gets down the road. From all angles.

Think about it, KHRC has 2 positive tests back for substance banned in being in horse on race day and still NO DQ of winner. And before the fans rush to Baffert's defense that it wasn't a PED, it doesn't matter if PED or not, it is banned on race day doesn't matter if he was taking care of rash or trying to mask illegal drugs. Have KHRC change the rule and then no problem, but as long the rule is on the books, it should be a DQ at the very least of winner.

In NY, NYRA says they protecting the integrity of horse racing, but no suspension for Linda Rice. Just a PR move by trying to suspend Baffert.

Mishandling of specimen will probably be the ruling, no DQ or suspension, maybe a small payout (I mean small fine )

You have to admit, Baffert playing a good game against the KHRC and NYRA.

I would like to know what difference between the drug that is in the cream and the injected drug, if any.

Sorry about the long winded rant. Have a great day.

[cj]

Sounds to me like KHRC will go for the severest penalty possible based on this latest report. They certainly aren't catering to Baffert here.

[classhandicapper]

I've been on the 50 yard line with this case.

I thought he deserved a punishment in line with what can be proven (a therapeutic overage and a history of such infractions). But the more this drags on the less sympathetic I'm becoming. If the DQ aspect of this is going to be fought in court for years. so be it. But no matter how you slice it he had another positive. Just accept responsibility for that much, take some kind of suspension, and move on. If he just said, "I didn't inject the horse, but I'm still responsible for the overage. I need to do a lot better", he probably would have saved himself a lot of legal fees, done better with the public, and may have even gotten a lower suspension than he's ultimately going to wind up getting. At this point, if he gets run out of the sport imo no one is going to miss him.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I've been on the 50 yard line with this case.

I thought he deserved a punishment in line with what can be proven (a therapeutic overage and a history of such infractions). But the more this drags on the less sympathetic I'm becoming. If the DQ aspect of this is going to be fought in court for years. so be it. But no matter how you slice it he had another positive. Just accept responsibility for that much, take some kind of suspension, and move on. If he just said, "I didn't inject the horse, but I'm still responsible for the overage. I need to do a lot better", he probably would have saved himself a lot of legal fees, done better with the public, and may have even gotten a lower suspension than he's ultimately going to wind up getting. At this point, if he gets run out of the sport imo no one is going to miss him.

Part of the problem the sport has is something I adverted to in the thread about the Haskell spill, which is that the participants actually owe a duty (if not a legal one, certainly one they perceive as a matter of personal ethics) to deny violations, to the owners who employ them.

In many other sports, there's either no owner at all or there's an owner whose income does not depend solely on one athlete's performance. So a track athlete can say "fine, you got me" and plead for lenience. Or a baseball player can do something similar.

But a jockey HAS to deny a foul. Admitting the foul would cost the owner money. And a trainer HAS to deny doping the horse, for the same reason. If Baffert admits what he did, his fear is that owners will see it as a betrayal of his employers and will no longer hire him to train their top horses. He HAS to deny. He has no choice. The structure of the sport forces people into lying.

So it was never in the cards that Baffert do anything other than fight fight fight.

The key point about this from a regulatory perspective is that it shows you why you need regulators that are totally independent of the sport and are not buddies with anyone in it. Because it's precisely the fact that regulators are drawn from the pool of owners and horsemen that you see these light punishments- they are naturally sympathetic to the owners who might "innocently" be harmed by the trainer's misconduct, so they are always looking for ways to lighten the punishments.

[Andy Asaro]

Originally Posted by cj

Sounds to me like KHRC will go for the severest penalty possible based on this latest report. They certainly aren't catering to Baffert here.

They seem offstride to me. The Baffert team did this intentionally as part of a plan IMO.

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

...........The key point about this from a regulatory perspective is that it shows you why you need regulators that are totally independent of the sport and are not buddies with anyone in it. Because it's precisely the fact that regulators are drawn from the pool of owners and horsemen that you see these light punishments- they are naturally sympathetic to the owners who might "innocently" be harmed by the trainer's misconduct, so they are always looking for ways to lighten the punishments.

Are there regulators of anything that would qualify under your job qualifications? You might want to add political affiliations too.