Vince Baker, the longtime veterinarian for trainer Bob Baffert, has been placed on probation by the California Veterinary Medical Board for four years as part of a stipulated agreement after the board alleged that he administered medications to horses without establishing a medical need for the treatments, among other violations, according to the agreement. In the agreement, which went into effect Aug. 21, the veterinary board said that an examination of medical records for Baker’s clients during an eight-week period in 2021 “revealed that clusters of equine patients were administered identical medications and treatments, at the same time, at the request of their trainers without medical examinations or necessity.” The agreement also cites treatments of horses going back to 2019. The agreement was posted on a social-media site on Thursday night by a user who is a longtime critic of Baffert. Baker, who has a large practice in Southern California, signed the agreement on April 28.  The initial complaint, which was filed with the veterinary board on Nov. 22, 2022, called for “revoking or suspending” Baker’s license and ordering the veterinarian to pay the costs of the investigation. The report states that “multiple veterinarians” contacted the board in February 2021, with complaints about “unsafe treatment of equine patients.” The agreement lists several causes of discipline, including negligence, unprofessional conduct, dispensing “dangerous” drugs without medical necessity, failure to establish a veterinarian-client-patient relationship, recordkeeping violations, and failure to provide necessary drug consultations. The agreement states that Baker and his veterinary practice have agreed that the veterinary board “could establish a factual basis for the charges” if the case were subject to a hearing and that Baker and his practice have ceded “their right to contest those charges” as a stipulation of the penalty. Under the settlement, Baker has agreed to a number of stipulations, including random monthly reviews of the medical and treatment records of horses he has treated. Baker also will be required to notify all his employers of the existence of the agreement and provide quarterly reports “stating whether there has been compliance with all terms and conditions of probation.” The 78-page agreement lists the treatment records for a number of horses that are identified by their initials. One of those horses is listed as M. Sp., which would appear to be a reference to Medina Spirit, the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby who was disqualified after testing positive for the regulated medication betamethasone following the race. Baker has acknowledged treating the horse with a skin ointment containing betamethasone in the lead-up to the Derby, and those treatments appear in the complaint under the “M. Sp.” records. Baffert was suspended by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for 90 days because of the positive. The KHRC denied Baffert’s appeal of the penalty and the disqualification of Medina Spirit.  Two years ago, the veterinary board suspended the license of Jeff Blea, a former private veterinarian in Southern California who had taken a job as the equine medical director of the California Horse Racing Board, under similar violations that were alleged to have occurred while he was in equine practice. Members of the CHRB were highly critical of the decision, which was taken prior to Blea receiving a hearing. Blea eventually reached a stipulated agreement with the board in September 2022 that placed him on probation for three years. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.