Kumin, Partners Vow to Stick With Baffert

They won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) together and they are sticking together.

Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables says the yearling partnership nicknamed "The Avengers" has already sent 25 of their 2-year-olds to trainer Bob Baffert in California and will continue racing with him even though the Hall of Fame trainer has been barred from entering horses at Churchill Downs Inc. tracks. The Churchill Downs ban, which followed the June 2 news that a split sample confirmed the presence of the corticosteroid betamethasone in 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit , means Baffert will be unable to enter horses in the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Run for the Roses.

"We bought over 30 2-year-olds that we plan to send to Bob," Kumin said. "We have sent about 25 already. We plan to continue to support him."

Jack Wolf, co-founder of Starlight Racing, confirmed the decision June 3, noting that Tom Ryan of SF Bloodstock was also "on the same page."

Baffert was also slapped with a temporary suspension by the New York Racing Association, which is monitoring developments in the Medina Spirit investigation by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to determine the length and terms of the ban.

Neither Santa Anita Park nor Del Mar in California have taken action against Baffert, which will allow his stable to race there throughout the year and prepare for the Breeders' Cup, which will be held at Del Mar Nov. 5-6. The Baffert-trained and WinStar Farm-owned older horse Country Grammer  won the May 31 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita.

Santa Anita, owned by The Stronach Group, issued a statement late June 2 indicating that Baffert could continue to race at the California track.

"Santa Anita Park is committed to integrity, accountability, and fairness in our sport. As it stands, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC)—which is the governing body for racing in Kentucky—has not released all of the information, nor has it offered a ruling on this matter," read the statement. "We will continue to await action by the KHRC and will make a decision once their regulatory process is complete."

The call to await a regulator decision differs from TSG's action that barred Jerry Hollendorfer from running horses at its properties beginning in June 2019 after four of the Hall of Fame trainer's horses perished from injuries during that Santa Anita's winter/spring meeting. Two others died at Golden Gate Fields.

TSG management has changed since the Hollendorfer decision. Craig Fravel joined TSG as CEO of Racing Operations in the fall of 2019.

TSG permitted Baffert to participate in the May 15 Preakness Stakes (G1) and other stakes races at Pimlico Race Course, another TSG-owned track, after Medina Spirit and other Baffert trainees passed extensive pre-race testing.

Under questioning from television hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar on CNN Thursday, Baffert attorney Craig Robertson asserted that he believes the Kentucky regulation was designed to restrict injections of betamethasone. Robertson said Medina Spirit was treated leading up to the Derby with Otomax, an anti-fungal ointment containing betamethasone, on the suggestion of his veterinarian to treat dermatitis on the colt's hind end this spring.

.@JohnBerman and @BriKeilarCNN press Bob Baffert’s attorney for facts. The Hall of Fame trainer was suspended for two years from the home of the Kentucky Derby after Medina Spirit’s positive post-race drug was confirmed, the company that runs the Louisville racetrack said. pic.twitter.com/1AFFLorgER

— CNN (@CNN) June 3, 2021

Darren Rogers, senior director of communications and media services for Churchill Downs, said Thursday that track officials had not yet discussed whether Bob Baffert trainees would still be able to earn points on its Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying series. Churchill Downs uses the points system to determine eligibility when the Derby overfills beyond 20 entrants.

The 2021-22 Road to the Kentucky Derby series has not yet been released, but the series typically begins in early fall for 2-year-olds and continues through mid-April of their 3-year-old season. Races such as the TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) typically serve as points-earning races for 2-year-olds.

"The Avengers" is the nickname for a consortium of owners and bloodstock agents formed by SF Racing, Madaket Stables, and Starlight Racing in 2018 that has purchased about two dozen yearlings per year at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale and sent them to Baffert as 2-year-olds.

Among the original group of horses was 2020 Kentucky Derby winner and Horse of the Year Authentic   as well as grade 1 winners Charlatan  and Eight Rings , both of whom, like Authentic, secured lucrative stallion deals. Authentic was by far the richest of the deals as kickers pushed into the ritzy neighborhood of about $34 million.

Following Baffert's May 9 announcement that Medina Spirit had tested positive for betamethasone, Spendthrift Farm moved Following Sea  to trainer Todd Pletcher's barn and announced four 2-year-olds sent to Baffert would be shifted to different trainers. MyRaceHorse Stable also transferred three horses it had with Baffert.

Spendthrift bought the breeding rights and a share of the racing rights to Authentic last year prior to the son of Into Mischief  's victories in the TVG.com Haskell Stakes (G1), Kentucky Derby, and the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1). Spendthrift, in turn, sold a share of those rights to MyRaceHorse, which sold more than 5,000 micro shares of the 3-year-old to its clients.

Charlatan tested positive for lidocaine after winning a division of the 2020 Arkansas Derby (G1) and was initially disqualified, but Baffert insisted the positive was caused by contamination and his attorney raised chain-of-custody concerns and the Arkansas Racing Commission ultimately rescinded that decision, restoring Charlatan as the winner.

Elliott Walden, president and CEO and racing manager for WinStar Farm, another top owner for whom Baffert trains, said he still needed to discuss Churchill Downs' ban of Baffert with WinStar owner Kenny Troutt. He otherwise declined comment.

WinStar teamed with China Horse Club, Starlight Racing, and Kumin's Head of Plains Partners to campaign unbeaten 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify  . Post-race tests taken from Justify after a victory in the 2018 Santa Anita Derby (G1) indicated the presence of scopolamine, but the California Horse Racing Board did not call a positive test, or another from the Baffert-trained older horse Hoppertunity   around the same time, under concerns of contamination related to jimson weed. Complaints were eventually issued by the CHRB under legal pressure, and Santa Anita Park stewards chose to uphold their victories.

WinStar Farm and China Horse Club were also on the 2021 Derby trail with Baffert-trained Life Is Good  before the talented colt was sidelined this spring due to injury.

In the aftermath of Churchill Downs' ban, Baffert found support at Monmouth Park, where racetrack head Dennis Drazin said Thursday that Baffert would be welcomed to enter a 3-year-old in the July 17 $1 million TVG.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at the Jersey Shore track.

"Some will think we should ban him, but we're not doing that," said Drazin, the CEO and chairman of Darby Development, which operates Monmouth.

While saying he would not follow the lead of individual racetracks, Drazin added that if Baffert is eventually suspended by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for a period of time that includes the Haskell, then Monmouth, through reciprocity, would honor the ban.

In that case, unlike Churchill Downs, which will not allow Baffert's assistant trainer Jim Barnes to enter the stable's horses under Barnes'  name, Drazin said Barnes would be able to enter and run horses at Monmouth, provided there is no contact with Baffert.

"It's unheard of that you ban an assistant trainer from handling the stable's horses," Drazin said. "I'm not sure how that's legal."