Haskell 2022: Monmouth Park welcomes Bob Baffert as industry grapples with embattled trainer
There were the trips to Max’s Hot Dogs, the joyous follow-up to the first Triple Crown in 37 years in the Monmouth Park winner’s circle in 2015, and the steady stream of talent shipped to the Jersey Shore over a quarter-century that elevated the Haskell during a Hall of Fame rise.
But could the wildly successful relationship between trainer Bob Baffert and the Jersey Shore racetrack be coming to an end?
It’s a fair question as Baffert, fresh off a 90-day suspension for Medina Spirit flunking a post-race drug test after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby, ships Taiba to the Jersey Shore for the 55th running of the $1 million TVG.com Haskell Stakes, looking for his 10th win in the Grade 1 fixture.
The Horse Racing Integrity Authority has a mandate to clean up the sport via a safety component that went into effect on July 1 and a rigorous drug testing program that kicks in Jan. 1, 2023.
With numerous medication violations over the years, including four in a six-month period in 2000, Baffert could find himself in HISA’s crosshairs.
“If you see a trainer with three or four or five drug positives in a year, even if they are for medications, those are going to be very significant suspensions, not a few days here and there like we’ve seen in the past,” said HISA CEO Lisa Lazarus in a recent interview with USA Today Network/New Jersey.
The first penalty for a controlled substance that is not allowed on race day is 15-day suspension, and up to 180 days for a fourth violation, with fines of up to $5,000.
But here’s the simple truth. The line between simple sloppiness in the barn area and pushing the envelope to gain an advantage is gone. It’s all the same in the mind of racing fans, even if some within the industry aren’t so sure.
More:Betting guide for Haskell 2022 with expert predictions, analysis
Baffert is currently suspended until early next year by the New York Racing Association for “conduct detrimental to the sport,” and by Churchill Downs Inc. While state racing commissions, including New Jersey, reciprocated the 90-day ban handed out by the Kentucky Horse RacingCommission, state regulatory agencies are not upholding the current bans.
“Bob was given 90 days. He served his time and he should be able to run, so why wouldn’t we welcome him,” said Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development, which operates Monmouth Park. “He has been a great asset over the years and been a friend and supporter.
“Things are changing with HISA, but we have always in American racing gone through the steward’s hearing first and let the regulator decide if someone should be banned, and you have reciprocity by every single racing commission in the country supporting that decision. But this one unfolded differently.”
Inexorably linked
To untangle Baffert from the Haskell is impossible at this point. With a pair of Triple Crown wins on his resume and 16 Triple Crown race wins in all, including six Kentucky Derby victories, he goes for this 10th Haskell win, with his previous 15 starters earning $7.3 million.
“I actually talked to him before he said he was running in the Haskell,” said Bob Kulina, who retired as Monmouth Park’s racing secretary after the 2018 season, and led a contingent to Baffert’s Southern California barn in 1997 in hopes of him running Silver Charm in the Haskell. “I called him, I usually text him, but this time I called him because he was just back off the suspension, and I wanted to see how he and Jill were doing. It’s been a tough go for him, and right or wrong, wherever you stand on it, it clearly has not been fun.”
Baffert has never run afoul of the rules in New Jersey, but he’s had his share of run-ins elsewhere.
The Washington Post reported that Baffert has had 29 medication-related violations according to the Association of Racing Commissioners International rulings database. He was able to dispatch some of the claims, receiving just fines for most of the others.
Baffert’s second Triple Crown winner, Justify, failed a drug test after winning the Santa Anita Derby in 2018, but the California Horse Racing Board failed to adjudicate the manner in a timely fashion and Justify was allowed to run in all three Triple Crown races. Justify would not have qualified for the Kentucky Derby without the Santa Anita Derby win, and it wasn’t disclosed until August of that year when the CHRB dismissed the case.
It’s another example of why the sport, with a serious public relations problem, is ripe for national oversight.
In addition, the Washington Post reported that Baffert has had 74 horses die under his care since 1990, an average of 8.3 fatalities per 1,000 starts, above the average of 7.2 in California, according to figures provided by the CHRB.
Need to change
There’s no denying the good Baffert has done for Monmouth Park. When he brought Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to the Haskell in 2015, thousands of fans showed up just to watch him train, with a record crowd of nearly 61,000 showing up on race day. And his high-profile presence has helped focus the national spotlight on the track each summer.
Now Monmouth Park, with a perception problem of its own after its top two trainers, Jorge Navarro and Jason Servis, were among a group of 27 indicted in 2020 after a federal probe into doping in racing, welcomes Baffert back into the fold for the first time since he won the race in 2020 with Authentic, part campaign that ended with Horse of the Year honors.
If HISA works the way it’s supposed to, the result will be a new era for racing, complete with uniform rules and regulations, increased accountability and transparency, and expanded veterinary oversight.
Now it’s up to every stakeholder in the sport, including Baffert, to begin the process of restoring the public’s confidence.
And if not, the Haskell, and racing as we know it, could find itself in the home stretch.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Haskell 2022: Bob Baffert, Taiba welcomed despite controversy
