Posted on 05/09/2021 8:05:25 AM PDT by Meatspace
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday that his barn has been told Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test, the latest doping scandal for horse racing and arguably the sport’s premier trainer.
Flanked by his attorney Craig Robertson in a morning news conference at Churchill Downs on Sunday, Baffert said Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of the steroid betamethasone, double the legal threshold in Kentucky racing, in a postrace sample.
(Excerpt) Read more at wlky.com ...
From what I remember from Vegas, tickets are bearer items. Payouts are final and no way to trace the tickets. Race winner payouts are different, 2nd becomes first etc.
> some dust particle with the stuff on it could have floated onto the test same <
There was a story out a couple of years ago about some drunk who was arrested for murder. A very small amount of the victim’s DNA had been found on him.
It turns out that earlier in the day the guy was checked out by a paramedic. That paramedic had been at the murder scene. The victim’s DNA was transferred to the innocent drunk via the paramedic’s clothing.
So ya never know.
“Here we go with another ‘race’ card being played.”
What the hell is it with you right-wingers. At a MINIMUM, the DOJ needs to investigate. Dark Horses have enough problems as it is, they don’t need this crap from The Man.
The horse was an aspiring rapper, and turning its life around...
I love horses ... in fact, I have raised 3 Thoroughbred foals (racing stock, but not for racing) from a TB mare I owned. After decades of watching the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, & Belmont Stakes, even gathering with friends for a race day party or two in the past, I don’t watch any more. Frankly, the 2019 KD pretty much was the last straw that ‘killed’ it for me. Secretariat was the high point of racing for me.
Baffert KNOWS the penalty for failed drug tests & I can’t believe he’d be stupid enough to risk a disqualification on a race like the KD so I don’t think this is coming from him personally; however, anyone with access to his horses could have slipped them something (and I’m sure he has security but they can’t analyze everything a horse eats/drinks, etc.) - lots of motives for doing it out there, aside from trying to give the horse a winning edge. A KD disqualification would be quite the ‘black eye’ for Baffert & that may be the intent ... who knows. I hope he does “get to the bottom of it”, but frankly, good luck with that.
A drug addiction female was arrested and they found coke in her pocketbook. She claimed that the wind blew it into her purse
One of the handlers could have been payed off big time to drug the horse.
When the comments are better than the story...
One of the handlers could have been payed off big time to drug the horse.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Absolutely. You cannot control all the people who come in contact with these horses on a daily basis - he trains a lot of horses & has to have a pretty big operation. Security is only good for protecting from outsiders/unknowns .... the insiders are the ones to worry about. Baffert has had quite a few failed drug tests .... he needs to look inside his own stable, but as I said, good luck with that. I don’t know how he’d catch someone being ‘paid off’ ... no ability to get to phone/computer records, or other means of communication, etc. A private investigator might help. He’s definitely got a problem. He set records with this KD win, that will vanish when the horse is disqualified .... jealousy could be at the root of it, too. SO many motives/reasons .... as I said, good luck to him with finding out what happened.
It’s Betamethasone.. an mRNA gene therapy and it’s government approved !!
Sure. Horse vet takes out syringe bottle of the steroid, a drop falls to floor hay from needle tip, horse eats hay and boom - scandal.
Stupid horse. He should have micro-dosed.
Is he an aspiring rap artist?
“21 picograms? that is nothing, unless you are talking about LSD”
No kidding. It reminds me of my buddy who was a navy officer. He enjoyed smoking the erb and NEVER had a problem when serving, but then the navy said they would drug test. He left, figured he better get the Honorable before getting done-in. I suspect the military lost a LOT of excellent officers and men due to this policy...although I can understand the flip-side of it too.
I don't think that's enough for LSD. Minimum effective dose for LSD is on the order of single digit micrograms per liter of body volume. A picogram is a trillionth of a gram - that's a million times smaller.
I bet it's some kind of noise. To prove a detection at the picogram level requires a herculean effort to prevent contamination. A positive test at the parts per trillion level has to be repeated under stringent protocol and confirmed by a separate means before conclusion. Protocol alone doesn't prove the conclusion.
Tickets are usually cashed once the Race Stewards confirm the winner. Minutes after the race ends. They wait for any complaints from other jockeys (usually there are none) and review the tape to see if one horse (jockey) intentionally rubbed against another to push him out of his lane etc... But after they call it official the tickets pay.
The question will most likely be whether he keeps the crown and the prize money, and if he will be eligible to continue onto the next race. I don’t know the rules on that when it comes to post race drug tests. Probably goes to a review board and some commissioners to decide.
“Stupid-ass horse. Did he REALLY think that the drugs wouldn’t be detected?”
The horse didn’t think about it a all.
So you are saying that 0.0000000000007 ounces of the drug will not make a difference in performance? /s
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