Baffert banned from entering, stabling horses at NYRA tracks

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will be barred from entering and stabling horses at New York Racing Association tracks indefinitely, the company announced Monday afternoon.

The length of NYRA’s ban will be determined by additional information that comes out of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s investigation into the positive test of Medina Spirit after he finished first in the Kentucky Derby on May 1, according to a press release issued by NYRA on Monday afternoon.

In addition to the ongoing investigation into Medina Spirit’s positive test, the NYRA said in a release it has taken into account other horses trained by Baffert who “have failed drug tests resulting in the assessment of penalties against him by Thoroughbred racing regulators in Kentucky, California, and Arkansas.”

Since May 2020, Baffert has had five medication violations.

“In order to maintain a successful Thoroughbred racing industry in New York, NYRA must protect the integrity of the sport for our fans, the betting public, and racing participants,” NYRA President and CEO Dave O’Rourke said in the release. “That responsibility demands the action taken today in the best interests of Thoroughbred racing.”

The KRHC has not officially announced the finding of the medication betamethasone in the post-race sample of Medina Spirit. Baffert, on May 9, revealed that he had been told by regulators of the bad test. Baffert and Medina Spirit’s owner, Amr Zedan, have requested a split sample. If the split confirms the presence of betamethasone, a therapeutic medication used in training that is not allowed to be in a horse’s system on race day, it is expected that Medina Spirit will be disqualified from the Derby.

Churchill Downs on May 9 announced it was banning Baffert from entering horses for the remainder of its spring/summer meet. However, Baffert still has horses stabled at Churchill, including Medina Spirit who was shipped back to Churchill after he finished third in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.

Baffert was permitted to run horses last weekend at Pimlico after agreeing to allow his horses to be tested three times in the days leading up to their races. Beautiful Gift finished seventh in Friday’s Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, while Medina Spirit and Concert Tour finished third and ninth, respectively, in the Preakness. A fourth horse, Hozier, finished second in the Sir Barton Stakes.

Baffert does not keep a regular stable at New York tracks but frequently ships horses in to run in major stakes at Belmont and Saratoga. While he was not planning to run a horse in this year’s Belmont Stakes on June 5, Baffert had mentioned running Charlatan in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on the same day’s card.

During the ban, NYRA will not accept entries or allot stall space to any of Baffert’s employees.

Since 1999, Baffert has won 41 Grade 1 stakes in New York, including three runnings of the Belmont Stakes. One of racing’s more indelible moments this century came when American Pharoah won the 2015 Belmont, ending Thoroughbred racing's 37-year Triple Crown drought.

Craig Robertson, Baffert's attorney, wrote in an e-mail that he is reviewing NYRA's decision and planned to discuss legal options with Baffert before making a statement.