Baffert fails to retain TOC board seat

The membership of the Thoroughbred Owners of California has elected five new board members, with the incumbent Bob Baffert failing to generate enough votes to retain his seat on the board.

The new members of the board include Ryan Hanson, a trainer, and Lindsay LaRoche, an owner who will be one of the TOC’s Northern California representatives. Three incumbents – Ed Moger, Stephanie Hronis, and Rick Gold – were re-elected.

The elected members will all serve three-year terms. The TOC board has 15 members.

According to the TOC’s official vote tallies, eight horsemen appeared on the ballot. Of the 1,579 ballots received by the organization, Baffert was ranked seventh in the voting.

Baffert has been surrounded by controversy the past several years due to a handful of high-profile medication violations, including a positive test for betamethasone, a regulated anti-inflammatory medication, after his Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby in May.