Suspension Lifted, Baffert Aims for Seventh Derby Win

Around 7 o'clock the evening of May 1, 2021, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert was atop the Kentucky Derby (G1) history books as the legendary race's only seven-time-winning trainer. His star 3-year-old of that year, Zedan Racing Stable's Medina Spirit, had just led throughout in the Run for the Roses.

The record victory wouldn't last. Medina Spirit would be ultimately disqualified after postrace test samples taken from Medina Spirit showed the presence of the corticosteroid betamethasone. The anti-inflammatory, which is allowed for therapeutic use between races, is prohibited when racing.

Now, four years later, following the lifting of a suspension of more than three years issued by Churchill Downs Inc. that prevented him from racing at its tracks, Baffert has another chance for a record-breaking Derby score. He is scheduled to run two 3-year-old colts in the May 3 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs: Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) winner Rodriguez  and reigning champion juvenile male Citizen Bull . He also runs the 3-year-old filly Tenma  in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Churchill's second-most important race.

This is not Baffert's first return to Churchill Downs since the suspension ended—he sent the talented colt Barnes  from California to win a maiden race last fall beneath the twin spires—but this does mark his return to the Derby, a race he has dominated like no other since "Plain Ben" Jones won it six times between 1938-52.

All of Baffert's Derby winners have been since 1997, when Silver Charm crossed the wire first. Twice his winners captured the Triple Crown, first with American Pharoah   in 2015 and followed three years later by Justify  . The two Triple Crown winners now stand at Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky.

Surrounded at Churchill Downs by more than two dozen reporters April 25 in his first appearance at the Louisville, Ky., track ahead of the Derby, a reporter asked Baffert if he is the face of the sport.

"I think I'm clickbait," he quipped. "What I've become."

Though Baffert has been out of Derby competition since May 2021, he has not been out of the press. Medina Spirit died suddenly in December 2021 while completing a workout at Santa Anita Park, likely from acute heart failure. His death was deemed unrelated to having betamethasone in his system seven months earlier, according to veterinarians who performed a necropsy.

Then two years ago, Baffert won the Preakness Stakes (G1)—giving him a record-extending 17th victory in the Triple Crown series—though it came during an afternoon at Pimlico Race Course marred by the fatal breakdown of another one of his trainees, Havnameltdown, in an undercard stakes race.

Medina Spirit-related lawsuits filed by Baffert and owner Amr Zedan of Zedan Racing Stables further led to legal squabbles with CDI and more media attention. Baffert and Zedan challenged Medina Spirit's disqualification and the trainer's sanctions, which also included a $7,500 fine and a 90-day suspension issued by Kentucky stewards—penalties that took into account a series of medication infractions committed by Baffert over a year. The suits were unsuccessful.

Horses typically receive betamethasone via joint injections, but Baffert claimed the positive test result was the result of Medina Spirit being treated for a skin condition with Otomax, an antifungal cream marketed to treat ear infections in dogs but that can be used to treat horses off-label under certain procedures.

Baffert's legal team argued that the betamethasone found in the cream was different than the type of betamethasone intended to be prohibited under Kentucky rules, leaving the disqualification and sanctions unwarranted. Baffert said Friday he hoped to have the finding lowered from a Class C violation to Class D, which could have resulted in lesser penalties.

Last summer, CDI rescinded Baffert's suspension shortly after the dismissal of a lawsuit against CDI by Zedan Racing Stables. Coinciding with CDI's announcement, Baffert issued a public statement on social media in which he accepted responsibility for the positive test. He did not immediately do so in the wake of the Medina Spirit finding, initially blaming "cancel culture" and contamination, before days later announcing that he believed Otomax treatment caused the positive test. A second test confirmed the presence of betamethasone.

He added in that social media post last summer that "I understand and appreciate that Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission took steps to enforce the rules that they believed were necessary to protect the safety and integrity of horse racing and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby."

Baffert, who was warmly greeted by CDI executives last fall when he ran Barnes at Churchill Downs, said he does not hold any hard feelings toward CDI.

"I don't feel that way because in racing as a trainer, I'd be mad every week every time we got beat or something. You know, you just cannot," he said.

Based on online searches of regulatory databases, Baffert has been free of any published medication infractions in racing conducted since Medina Spirit competed in the Derby.

Asked if he had changed any of his processes or oversight, Baffert replied, "Well, I think I actually ran a pretty tight ship, and we were real careful." He added that "nobody would have ever thought" a cream would trigger a finding, attributing it to the sensitivity of the testing.

Baffert's two Derby runners this year are each owned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Sol Kumin's Madaket Stables, Stonestreet Stables, Dianne Bashor, Determined Stables, Bob Masterson, Tom Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, and Catherine Donovan. Many of them campaigned National Treasure with Baffert, and a smaller segment were connected with the trainer's last two Derby winners: Justify and Authentic   in 2020.

Under Baffert's training, Citizen Bull became an Eclipse Award winner last year for the ownership group, and numerous other colts for these connections have won grade 1s, resulting in them having lucrative postracing careers as stallions.

"I don't think the Derby's the same without Bob and his horses. I think it's great for the race and the industry," Starlight Racing co-founder Jack Wolf said. "It may not be great for the competitors, but it's great for a lot of other reasons."

Hall of Fame trainers Bill Mott and Mark Casse visited Baffert Friday during morning training. They run two of the leading contenders in the Derby in Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner Sovereignty  and Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman , respectively.

Asked about Baffert on a National Thoroughbred Racing Association teleconference a day earlier, Casse said, "I'm excited to have Bob back. We all want to win, but we want to beat the best. You don't really want to win with a little asterisk. So I'm happy Bob's back, and I hope to beat him."

As for Baffert, he acknowledged respect for his opponents' horses, praising the Michael McCarthy-trained West Coast star Journalism  in particular.

Baffert said his nerves will likely peak on Derby day. "My greatest memories are the Kentucky Derby and they always will be," he said.