Baffert assistant Barnes hospitalized for broken pelvis

CYPRESS, Calif. – Jimmy Barnes, the longtime assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, was being treated for a fractured pelvis on Sunday after being unseated from the stable pony earlier in the day.

“He stumbled,” Baffert said. “The pony lost his footing. He just went down. It was a freaky thing.”

It was not immediately known how long Barnes would be hospitalized.

Barnes has been an integral part of Baffert’s team for nearly two decades, often traveling around the nation – and to Dubai – with the stable’s leading horses. In 2015, he accompanied American Pharoah to Oaklawn Park for a win in the Arkansas Derby and was alongside the colt through a sweep of the Triple Crown.

Barnes, 58, has worked for Baffert since November 1998.

• Trainer Jeff Mullins has been fined $500 after one of his runners at Santa Anita in May tested positive for two anti-inflammatory medications – bute and flunixin.

Trainers are not allowed to administer more than one anti-inflammatory medication, according to California Horse Racing Board regulations. According to a ruling published Sunday by Los Alamitos stewards, the positives were found in a post-race test taken from Anita Partner, who finished third in the seventh race at Santa Anita on May 27.

Mullins said in a phone interview on Sunday that both medications were present but in levels below the permitted amounts.