Tag: Bob Baffert

Bob Baffert's suit to toss out a NYRA suspension hearing was thrown out Friday. His pre-suspension hearing from NYRA begins Monday. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Judge Tosses Baffert Suit Against NYRA, Suspension Hearing Forthcoming

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s lawsuit against the New York Racing Association was dismissed Friday, clearing the way for his pre-suspension hearing from the organization to go forward. Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York threw out Baffert’s attempt to […]

The 51st Eclipse Awards winners will be announced Feb. 10. Sixteen of the 17 finalist categories were announced Saturday. (Image: NTRA)

Few Surprises Revealed as Eclipse Award Finalists Announced

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association, National Turf Writers and Broadcasters, and the Daily Racing Form announced the finalists for the 2021 Eclipse Awards on Saturday. The list of finalists did not include Horse of the Year candidates, for which Knicks Go is a virtual certainty. Instead, finalists in 16 of […]

Gamine won her second-to-last race: the Grade 1 Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga. It was her ninth win in 11 career races and fifth Grade 1 triumph. She was retired Tuesday. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher)

Champion Sprinter Gamine Retired Mere Days Into Her 5-Year-Old Season

Gamine, the incomparable sprinter who is among the fastest runners this century, was retired Monday, according to a release from her owner, Pandora jewelry baron Michael Lund Petersen. Through a representative, Petersen announced the now-5-year-old mare will reside at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Kentucky. With a 9-0-1 record and […]

Dash Attack conquered 12 rivals and the Oaklawn Park slop Saturday, winning the Smarty Jones Stakes and giving trainer Kenny McPeek another Kentucky Derby contender. (Image: Coady Photography)

Smarty Jones Winner Dash Attack Gives McPeek a Pleasant Problem

Kenny McPeek has what you call a Kentucky Derby embarrassment of riches coming courtesy of Dash Attack, who won Saturday’s Listed Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park. And the dynamic trainer is still trying to put the talented pieces together. That’s because, on Saturday, McPeek added another piece to an […]

Mackinnon has been a turf force in his six races. Now, he tries dirt for the first time in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

When it Comes to the Derby, Nothing Phony About These Sham Stakes

Unlike many of its early Kentucky Derby prep predecessors, Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park brings the recent Derby chops with it. How recent? How about the last two Derby champions? The one-mile Sham, which offers 10-4-2-1 Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers, gave you […]

Private Mission and Flavien Prat seek a return to trips like this victorious one in the Grade 2 Zenyatta two starts ago. The pair are the 8/5 morning-line favorite in Sunday's Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Private Mission’s La Brea Stakes Mission: Avoid A Pace Meltdown

The last time we saw Private Mission, she was engaged in an incendiary pace meltdown with Letruska and others in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. Now, we see if she’s learned a lesson from that rude awakening in Sunday’s Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita Park. […]

California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) called for the California Horse Racing Board to exhibit transparency in its investigation of Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit's sudden death. (Image: Jay Calderon/Desert Sun)

California Senator Feinstein Calls Out CHRB on Medina Spirit Investigation

California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, one of the Senate co-sponsors of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 and a frequent critic of horse racing, wrote a letter to the California Horse Racing Board seeking transparency in the sudden death of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. In the […]

Messier and Flavien Prat controlled the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes last month at Del Mar. Oddsmakers make the pair a 1/2 morning-line choice to give Bob Baffert his eighth consecutive Los Alamitos Futurity title. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Los Alamitos Futurity: The Race Bob Baffert Made His Own

The Bob Baffert Invitational, otherwise known as the Los Alamitos Futurity, goes off on Saturday as the penultimate day of Los Alamitos’ short Thoroughbred Winter Meet. And as you would expect, the 1 1/16-mile test for 2-year-olds has that usual Baffert flavor to it. There’s Messier, the prohibitive 1/2 favorite. […]

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit collapsed and died Monday morning after a workout at Santa Anita Park. The 3-year-old colt never finished out of the money in 10 career races. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Derby Champion Medina Spirit Dies of Apparent Heart Attack After Workout

The sporting world beyond horse racing was shocked Monday morning when 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit suddenly died of an apparent heart attack after a morning workout at Santa Anita Park. The Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old had just finished a five-furlong work in 1:01.40 when he collapsed. Santa Anita’s onsite […]

Jockey John Velazquez aboard Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit, with owner Amr Zedan (far left), trainer Bob Baffert (yellow tie) and the rest of the horse's connections. Zedan and Baffert's attorneys issueed a statement maintaining the horse's positive drug test was due to an ointment. (Image: Jamie Newell/TwinSpires)

Baffert Attorneys: Test Proves Cream Caused Medina Spirit’s Positive Test

The attorneys for Medina Spirit’s owner and trainer, Amr Zedan and Bob Baffert, issued statements late Friday claiming that tests performed by a New York laboratory confirmed their position that the Kentucky Derby winner’s positive test for the corticosteroid betamethasone came from the ointment Otomax and not an injection. Baffert’s […]

Grace Adler and Flavien Prat destroyed their rivals by more than 11 lengths in the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in September. She is one of three Bob Baffert horses running the final Grade 1 of the year for 2-year-old fillies: Saturday's Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos. (Image: Behoit Photo)

Baffert Sends Three Looking for Five in the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes

Not surprisingly, Saturday’s Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos has that distinct Bob Baffert flavor to it. That flavor manifests itself with the Hall of Fame trainer sending out three 2-year-old fillies in what is the final Grade 1 of the year for juvenile fillies. To illustrate Baffert’s dominance […]

Despite being on the shelf due to surgery for a stress fracture, Jack Christopher found himself the individual favorite in the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool for 2022. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool Opens Without Baffert Colts

In case you’re curious, the first Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool opens this weekend with “All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2019 Foal Crop” as the even-money favorite. It also opens with the current Las Vegas futures favorite, Corniche, literally missing from action. Currently 6/1 at Caesars at William […]

Azul Coast and Flavien Prat won their first graded-stakes race Saturday, capturing the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Azul Coast Breaks Out of the Shadows, Takes Native Diver at Del Mar

Azul Coast was the forgotten Baffert; the also-ran in the three-headed contingent the Hall of Fame conditioner sent out in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday. Hidden in the shadow of the more heralded Eight Rings and the veteran stakes runner Ax Man, and coming […]

Messier and Flavien Prat breezed to victory as the 6/5 favorite in last Sunday's Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar. He's currently second on Kentucky Derby futures boards at 20/1 despite being ineligible to run the 2022 Derby. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Two 2022 Derby Hopefuls Share Future Odds on Differing Paths

As one Kentucky Derby hopeful underwent surgery, another underwent surgery to his Derby futures odds after winning his stakes debut. Jack Christopher, who was the 9/5 morning-line favorite before being scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, had a screw placed in a left shin, according to Blood-Horse. After Dr. Larry […]

Knicks Go breezed to victory in the 2020 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. He takes 5/2 morning-line favorite status for Saturday's $6 million Breeders' Cup Classic against a wealth of tougher contenders. (Image: Horsephotos)

Breeders’ Cup Classic: An All-Star Field With Numerous Possibilities

The first thing worth understanding about the Breeders’ Cup Classic is that it’s not kind to favorites. Unless you qualify for legend status, like Ferdinand, Alysheba, A.P. Indy, Cigar, Skip Away, Ghostzapper, Zenyatta and American Pharoah do. Last year’s winner, Authentic, was 5/1. Your favorite, meanwhile, was 3.20/1 Tiz the […]