Listen...

[makrmark]

no upside to winning the derby?

[TGJB]

Meanwhile, Trump says “Medina Spirit is a junky (sic) and emblematic of what is happening in our country”, and Baffert goes on Fox to say it’s cancel culture.

Shoot me.

[TGJB]

No upside to doing something that can’t help him win and could cause a catastrophe.

[Tavasco]

Now that is very incriminating given the history of Fox News guests.

[Strike]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Meanwhile, Trump says “Medina Spirit is a junky
> (sic) and emblematic of what is happening in our
> country”, and Baffert goes on Fox to say it’s
> cancel culture.
>
> Shoot me.


The New York Times said in November 2020 that Baffert-trained horses have failed at least 29 drug tests in his four-decade career. “I\'m worried about our sport,” Baffert said. “Our sport, we\'ve taken a lot of hits as a sport.


To me, this is the biggest problem. And, Baffert is not just a trainer -- he is the face of horse racing and has been for decades. Even people who don\'t give a damn about racing knows \"that white haired guy.\" He is the highest profile person in the sport. He had a positive in the biggest race in the world. Not a PED but it doesn\'t really matter to those who just watch the Derby once a year.

He will get off -- again. The stain will last. Possibly not his fault but hard to explain away 29 positives when other high profile/high volume running trainers are not getting them.

[TGJB]

The biggest problem is the “positives” are garbage, while actual move ups are going on all the time. The industry is trying to look like they’re serious while not being willing to do serious thingsâ€" like freeze and retest samples. Like publish test results so we know the testers are actually doing their fâ€"-ing jobs.

[jerry]

I’m with you rezlegal

[jerry]

So you’d prefer that the suspected offense be glossed over because of bad optics? The public is already on to horse racing being a dirty sport and this is a big reason why. The best thing that could happen to the sport would be a massive come to Jesus moment whereby all sinners are expelled.

[richiebee]

JB what do any of these issues mean if a: the rules are not enforced and b: the rules are not enforced equably?

[jerry]

JB, you’re on this thing of what a horses natural ability is vs enhancements as if pain masking meds are ok because the horse could actually run that fast if he wasn’t so damn lame.

If it’s a regulated med and it shows up in a blood test it’s a violation. Your beef is with the status of the med.

[jerry]

Can’t help him win. You try running on a bum knee. See how far you get.

[Strike]

Baseball got serious about PEDs by giving serious penalties to those who got caught using them and effectively banning them from post career awards (Hall of Fame). Looks like -- aside from some trash can bashing -- baseball is now clean. I agree a \"positive\" for a trillionth of a gram of anything is pretty ridiculous and that the focus, as you say, should be on substances and amounts of those substances that actually affect performance.

Some may argue that Baffert is a \"move up trainer\" and gets numbers in major races that make no sense to those who study patterns. I think his recent Kentucky Derby winner may fit in that category.

[TGJB]

Richieâ€" the right rules need to be enforced the right way. Punishing someone for something that doesn’t make a difference and not punishing someone for the things that do is Lewis Carroll territory. Off with his head!

Jerryâ€" you need to read my post on this string from 11:40 AM.

[confused]

You\'re saying this horse was a \'move up\' horse?  Give me a break, he was among the leaders in numbers going into the race.  Did he improve?  Yes.  But not out of the range of normalcy for a young horse.

Baffert may be an egotistical idiot, but he\'s no fool.  This positive is not the reason the horse won.  Give Baffert some credit and JV too.  They stole the race the old fashioned way.

[TreadHead]

TGJB, the line of discussion you are taking here makes sense if Baffert says he gave the horse the drug weeks ago and there\'s only a trace amt left (going to put aside the performance enhancing question for now).

But unless I\'ve missed something, he\'s flat out saying he never gave the horse the drug at all.

That leaves only 3 possibilities:

1) He knew about an arrangement to give the horse the drug off the record at some points

2) He knew nothing about it and someone thought they would sneak it in and it would be out of system by race day

3) He knew nothing about it and someone is trying to sabotage him

None of these explanations cast Baffert in a positive light, especially for someone who has prior violation issues.  He is supposed to have 100% responsibility for these horses, the buck stops with him.  

With the millions of dollars that are at stake, it does seem highly illogical and downright implausible that he would be doing anything that would potentially risk those millions.

Then comes the story that one of his recent violations was because a groom pissed on the horse\'s hay, and any arguments grounded in logic and the protection that they might/should be offering these horses goes out the window.

At best, Baffert is guilty of what the NCAA would call \"failure to monitor\".  At worst, something nefarious.  Either one is not excusable for him.  I do feel badly for the horse and connections, if they truly knew nothing about it.