First it was sabotage. Then a possibility of ingested urine soaked hay. Or was it a bit of cough syrup left by a careless groom? Jimson weed accidentally mixed in the feed?
No wait…it’s CANCEL CULTURE! 🤔
“I think it was just a knee jerk, cancel culture kind of reaction. They violated my due process…”
–@BobBaffert on the statement released by @ChurchillDowns @KentuckyDerby pic.twitter.com/AE5kom6YlQ
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 10, 2021
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been running through an endless stream of excuses as to how his Kentucky Derby winning horse Medina Spirit failed a post-victory drug test. Medina Spirit tested for an excessive amount of betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory.
Baffert was baffled. He said that his team does not use that drug. “Medina Spirit has never been treated with that drug. I got the biggest gut punch for something I didn’t do. I feel like I was wronged.”
Sabotage? Tainted hay? Cancel culture? Who would “cancel” the sport’s biggest star?
Now we’ve (possibly) landed on an explanation. Bob’s horse was treated with butt ointment Otomax that contains betamethasone. Oops. That’d be the butt, Bob!
According to the Hall of Fame trainer, it started after the Santa Anita Derby. https://t.co/A1lEFrL7yG
— wave3news (@wave3news) May 11, 2021
“I’m not a conspiracy therapist (sic), I know everybody’s not out to get me. There are problems in racing but it’s not Bob Baffert,” he said.
New York Times horse racing writer Joe Drape joined me on 840WHAS, saying that Bob Baffert’s long history of 30+ doping infractions plus the silence of other trainers following this controversy intensifies suspicions.
.@NYTSports writer @joedrape on the latest @BobBaffert controversy, protecting the integrity of the @KentuckyDerby, the silence of other trainers, @PreaknessStakes next move 🐎 LISTEN https://t.co/xc96NwrZR8 @840WHAS #DerbyCity #Louisville #thoroughbredracing #doping #honor pic.twitter.com/1moRfCC0jv
— Terry Meiners (@terrymeiners) May 10, 2021
Frankly, the story was more intriguing when the possibility of sabotage was still afloat. Imagine the Oliver Stone movie that would chronicle it all, tracing the drug injection back to Baffert’s jilted ex-wife. Or to a mid-level Keeneland executive. Or to the ghost of Dancer’s Image. Or all three of them working together!
Here are some of Baffert’s other captivating media appearances prior to the butt ointment outcome. Each one a marketing malfunction unto itself. He told too many different stories in too many different places.
“I never thought I’d have to be fighting for my reputation and the poor horse’s reputation because of the new regulations.”@bobbaffert denies cheating after his Kentucky Derby-winning horse Medina Spirit failed a drug test @BillHemmer @DanaPerino pic.twitter.com/01MPJcfxdQ
— America’s Newsroom (@AmericaNewsroom) May 10, 2021
“I would never risk my reputation. I train great horses, and I train for great clients. This just doesn’t make sense… People in the horse industry, they understand it’s BS.”
–@BobBaffert pic.twitter.com/FtFe9CHzdX
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) May 10, 2021
We’ve seen this movie before. In 1968, Kentucky Derby winner Dancer’s Image lost his victory after a positive drug test. Second-place finisher Forward Pass was declared the winner. An appeals court reinstated victory for Dancer’s Image, but a higher appellate court snatched away the reversal and Forward Pass is now called the winner of the 1968 Kentucky Derby forever.
Bob Baffert swears up and down that he is innocent of any wrongdoing in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
“Is there sabotage in the industry?” asked Dan Patrick.
“Somebody had it contaminated or…I hate to speculate but we don’t know.” Baffert replied. “I’m a Hall of Fame trainer. I’ve had a lot of success. A lot of people don’t like it. I didn’t do it. With success comes a lot of jealousy and animosity. I’m an open book. They look at all the vet records.”
“Racing has a lot of problems. Bob Baffert isn’t one of them.”