Global Courant
Churchill Downs is extending Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s suspension through 2024, barring the two-time Triple Crown winner from entering horses for the Kentucky Derby and other races for another year.
Churchill Downs Inc. announced Monday that it is extending Baffert’s ban at least through the 2024 calendar year, citing “ongoing concerns about the threat to the safety and integrity of racing it poses to CDI-owned racetracks.”
Baffert was initially suspended for two years after 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a post-race drug test and was later disqualified.
In a statement, Churchill Downs said Baffert continues to “spread false stories” about Medina Spirit’s failed drug test for a steroid, betamethasone, which is legal in Kentucky but banned on race day.
“A trainer who is unwilling to take responsibility for multiple failed drug tests in our high-profile races cannot be trusted to avoid future misconduct,” CDI said.
The company went on to say it will reevaluate Baffert’s status after 2024.
A message left by The Associated Press requesting comment from Baffert’s camp was not immediately answered.
Asked for further comment, a CDI spokesperson delayed the statement.
Medina Spirit collapsed and died in December 2021 after training in California.
Baffert’s suspension comes with horse racing at a crossroads, after the death of 12 horses within a month at Churchill Downs prompted the legendary circuit to investigate the causes, while the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority launched a parallel investigation. Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. was recently reinstated by Churchill Downs after two of his horses died leading up to this year’s Kentucky Derby.
Baffert returned to the Triple Crown course earlier this year on the Preakness after being suspended from that race and the 2022 Belmont in connection with another Kentucky 90-day ban that Maryland and New York honored. His National Treasure won the Preakness, giving him a record-breaking eighth win in racing hours after another 3-year-old horse he was training broke his front left leg racing and was euthanized on the track.
“You can’t do it without the group of owners who have stood by me through all these negative, bad things that have happened to me over the years,” Baffert said after winning the Preakness in May. “And they are loyal, they stayed with me and I give them all the credit.”
Baffert’s team sued Churchill Downs earlier this year and sought a temporary injunction to end the suspension, arguing that the track was never given advance notice or contact to explain the two-year ban . Baffert, the face of the sport and its most visible figure, argued that the situation had damaged his reputation.
Churchill Downs pushed for the case to be dropped, citing nine medication violations by horses trained by Baffert as justification.
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