Suspension over, Baffert returns to training
ARCADIA, Calif. – The first Sunday of July at Santa Anita was comeback day for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, his return to daily training after a highly publicized 90-day suspension for a medication violation found in a post-race test taken from 2021 Kentucky Derby first-place finisher Medina Spirit.
Baffert vehemently fought the case with regulators and in court before a Kentucky Court of Appeals declined to issue an emergency injunction in early April that would have prevented the suspension from starting. The suspension began April 4 and ended Saturday.
Baffert, 69, was back to his normal routine Sunday, driving his golf cart to and from the barn to a section of the grandstand overlooking the finish line. Baffert watched morning training, often communicating with stable staff through a walkie-talkie, just as he has for decades.
“I’m just trying to get caught up,” he said toward the end of the training session. “It feels like the first day of school.”
Typical of a Sunday, Baffert had several horses undergo workouts, preparing for the start of the Del Mar summer season on July 22. The stable has had a leading presence at Del Mar for more than 25 years and is expected to have the same impact this year.
“I’ve got a lot of 2-year-olds here,” he said.
During the suspension, Baffert’s high-profile stable raced primarily for trainer Sean McCarthy, with a small number of leading horses trained by Tim Yakteen, a former assistant to Baffert. McCarthy’s wife, Kim, is Baffert’s office manager.
Jimmy Barnes, long-time assistant to Baffert, maintained his role in recent months with McCarthy.
Yakteen, 57, won two races with horses transferred from Baffert earlier this year – Taiba in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, and Armagnac, a maiden race winner on May 8 who was later seventh in the Preakness Stakes on May 21 at Pimlico.
Taiba and Messier, another former Baffert-trained runner, were 12th and 15th in the Kentucky Derby for Yakteen.
McCarthy, 59, won eight races with horses that had previously started for Baffert, notably three graded stakes winners at Santa Anita in June – Hopper in the Grade 3 Affirmed Stakes for 3-year-olds, Private Mission in the Grade 2 Santa Maria Stakes for fillies and mares, and Under the Stars in the Grade 2 Summertime Oaks for 3-year-old fillies.
“They did a good job,” Baffert said of Yakteen and Sean McCarthy. “I’m proud of them. They kept it together.”
McCarthy also won five races with horses that were in his barn before Baffert’s suspension began.
On Sunday, McCarthy was back to overseeing his stable. He was scheduled to have one of his runners at Los Alamitos on Sunday.
With the influx of former Baffert horses in recent months, McCarthy’s stable has had record earnings for a year of $1,428,157 through Saturday.
“You get around different operations and you learn new things,” McCarthy said of his experience in recent months.
“That was our main goal. [We wanted] to keep everything going the way they were going. I think we accomplished that. We won some races.”
McCarthy said he plans to take 16 horses to the Del Mar summer meeting.
“That includes the pony,” he said.
McCarthy said he does not anticipate gaining new clients from his recent success. He cited a situation in 2014 when his stable was led by the graded stakes winner Majestic Harbor but did not appreciably grow.
“People said that will get you going, and it didn’t,” he said.
Even with the end of the suspension, Baffert still faces some limitations. The New York Racing Association announced last month that Baffert is banned from racing at its tracks through Jan. 25, a period that includes the Saratoga meeting later this summer.
In addition, Churchill Downs has banned Baffert from having runners at its venues through the Kentucky Derby in 2023. The ban, which included this year, was announced after the positive finding taken from Medina Spirit last year.
How the suspension regarding the 2023 Kentucky Derby plays out for Baffert will not be known until next spring. There is a possibility some of Baffert’s leading 3-year-olds in 2023 could be transferred to a trainer such as Yakteen to start in the Kentucky Derby.
On Sunday, a more immediate issue for Baffert was preparing for Del Mar. Baffert said he attended horse sales during his absence, but did not follow racing on a day-to-day basis.
“I haven’t looked at a condition book or anything,” he said. “I didn’t watch all the races.
“It was better for me to check out. I was going to sales, and that kept me busy.”
While his reputation has been battered by the suspension, Baffert remains the most recognizable face in the sport. He said Sunday that he is eager to return to his routine.
“I’m not ready to retire,” he said.