WinStar sends Country Grammer back to Baffert for 2022 campaign

Country Grammer, unraced since a win in the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup at Santa Anita in May, has rejoined trainer Bob Baffert’s stable for a 2022 campaign.

Saturday at Santa Anita, Country Grammer worked a half-mile in 50.40 seconds, the colt’s first major exercise of his comeback.

A 4-year-old, Country Grammer was transferred from Baffert to Todd Pletcher in New York last June in the weeks after the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit tested positive for the banned raceday medication betamethasone in the Kentucky Derby.

Baffert was temporarily banned from having starters at New York Racing Association tracks last year, a policy later overturned by a judge. Country Grammer did not race for Pletcher after an ankle injury surfaced last summer.

Country Grammer is owned by WinStar Farm, which co-owns Life Is Good, a 3-year-old who won the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita for Baffert last March but missed the Triple Crown races because of injury. When Life Is Good resumed training in the summer, the colt was sent to Pletcher.

WinStar Farm president Elliott Walden said in a text statement on Saturday that the farm supports Baffert, who has yet to have a hearing with Kentucky regulatory officials regarding the Medina Spirit case.

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“I sent Country Grammer and Life Is Good back East because of the legal issues Bob was having at that time,” Walden said. “We didn’t know where they would be able to run. If I thought Bob was doing anything wrong, I would not have sent Country Grammer back to California.”

There are no specific race goals for Country Grammer, but Walden said he is hopeful the colt can start in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles on March 5. Country Grammer has won 3 of 8 starts and earned $377,320.