RAY’S PADDOCK, PAULICK REPORT. 6 Jul. 20 — QUOTE. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert claims that two horses in his barn were “unknowingly and innocently exposed” to a banned substance that wound up in their post-race test samples from May 2 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.
Information leaked from initial testing by the Arkansas Racing Commission’s contracted laboratory in late May indicated that Gamine and Charlatan both tested positive for the Class 2 drug lidocaine, according to the New York Times. Gamine won a May 2 allowance race by a neck. She subsequently won the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park on June 20 by 18 ¾ lengths. Charlatan won a division of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and shortly thereafter suffered a minor ankle injury that will have him sidelined until after the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby. Both horses are unbeaten in three starts.
Split samples, sent at Baffert’s request to the Equine Analytical Testing Laboratory at the University of California-Davis, confirmed the findings, as first reported in the New York Times.
Lidocaine is used by veterinarians during lameness examinations to “block” or numb a horse’s limbs. It is also commonly found in ointments and analgesic treatments and patches to alleviate pain in humans.
A statement from Baffert’s attorney, Craig Robertson, said both Gamine and Charlatan were exposed to the lidocaine from a patch worn by a member of the trainer’s staff suffering back pain while tending to the horses at Oaklawn. UNQUOTE.
Some say Baffert is a genius trainer. Oh, we concur he is an excellent conditioner . . . . of sorts. But if he is a genius at anything, in our opinion rightly or wrongly, he is a genius racehorse doper and escape artist. One wonders. How good a conditioner would he be if he had to rely only on water, hay and oats?
One wonders this as well. Does Bob Baffert lie in bed at night laughing to himself at how yet again he has played the horse racing nation as complete and utter fools?
Featured Image: Row of wooden Pinnochios. ©Shutterstock.
Related Reading
“Why some people lie to appear more honest”; University of Chicago; 30 Jan. 2020
Tuesday's Horse 
Your Pinnochio picture says it all!! This is who racing proudly entered into their Hall of Fame. THAT says it all right there. #EndHorseracingNow #HorseracingKillsHorses
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It’s now a racing criminal hall of fame.
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Baffert is dirty; and his excuses and explanations just get more ludicrious. For a sport supposedly wanting to clean its practices and rework its image and preserve its place in sport, this is NOT the message to send. Because this message just personifies its corruption and hypocrisy.
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Exactly. Perfectly put.
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This is complete and utter nonsense.
Baffert needs to be called out on this.
Disgraceful if he gets away with this.
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Baffy will get away with it. What can they do to him anyway? No one at any of the racing boards appear to have the slightest idea what they can and cannot do. They are quick enough to figure something out on the cover ups. They are very inventive then.
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Contamination seems to follow Bastard Bob around like a loyal dog! However, people still support him and dismiss the “doping” documentation. Just another reason that racing must die in the dirt. It simply can’t be “fixed.”
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Agree with you 1000% Mary.
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