Following Wednesday's announcement from Churchill Downs Inc. that Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert would be banned for two years, the trainer was given the green light to run at Santa Anita, Del Mar and Monmouth Park.
“The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has made significant progress in equine safety and welfare over the last several years and compliance with medication policies is an important component of that progress,” said a statement released by Del Mar. “In that regard, we continue to gather information, including regulatory processes, related to the matter involving trainer Bob Baffert. We will withhold any decisions about this matter until we have all such information.”
Dennis Drazin, chairman and CEO of Darby Development LLC, which operates Monmouth Park, told Asbury Park Press, “If Bob has a Haskell horse and he wanted to come to Monmouth Park to run in the [July 17 GI TVG.com] Haskell [S.], he is welcome. I'm sure there will be those that disagree with me and think we should ban him, but we're not doing that at Monmouth Park.”
Santa Anita, Baffert's home track and where the majority of his stable is based, issued the following statement Wednesday.
“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 horse racing in Kentucky–has not released all of the information nor has it offered a ruling on this matter. We will continue to await action by the KHRC and will make a decision once their regulatory process is complete.”
He will be unable to enter horses in races or occupy stalls at any Churchill-owned tracks, which include Fair Grounds and Arlington Park, due to the split sample from Medina Spirit (Protonico)'s first-place finish in the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby returning positive for betamethasone, a prohibited substance in Kentucky.
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