Baffert makes his last stand

by John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times Now 68, Baffert is seeing his livelihood and reputation under attack after a series of medication infractions have made him an outcast to some in the industry and a pariah to many more outside of it. He's the person few in the business want to talk about, but everyone…

Bob Baffert, Justify and the Chemical Triple Crown

by VIVIAN FARRELL Everyone who knows us knows we are no fans of Thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert. He is a cheater, a liar and a doper. I had written a dear colleague a day or so ago stating it is my opinion that when all is said and done, Baffert's Triple Crown Winner, Justify, would…

Thoroughbred Industry Organizations’ Statements On Current Crisis

The Ray Paulick Report post entitled, "Thoroughbred Industry Organizations’ Statements On Current Crisis", was published yesterday evening. Mr. Paulick put it to horse racing stakeholders this way: Paulick email: In recent weeks, I've been approached and contacted by numerous people whose livelihoods depend on the Thoroughbred industry, telling me they fear for the industry's future, and…

29 U.S. Reps from California betray racehorses

H.R.1754 (the Horseracing Integrity Act) is a shockingly bad bill for racehorses and will change nothing except put a handful of horse racing's drug kings in charge of racehorse doping across the entire U.S. instead of simply their own backyard. Imagine a scenario such as this, someone like the totally unscrupulous Bob Baffert, who ranked…

Suspected sea snail venom used on racehorses in Oz

It would never have occurred to us we would ever be writing about sea snail venom. But then we never thought we would be writing about frog juice. That's horse racing! Full of cheaters, dopers and liars. The Brisbane Times reports: A deadly venom found in sea snails which can paralyse fish within a second…

Horse Racing in America: A Spectacle of Liars, Dopers and Cheaters – Part 1

by JANE ALLIN Introduction Twenty horses, dirt flying around the first turn at Churchill Downs and the sound of hooves thundering down the stretch toward the finish line in pursuit of the first jewel in the Triple Crown – the Kentucky Derby. Steeped in tradition, the first Saturday in May brings with it fancy and outrageous…