Medication Violations

Bob Baffert's five-day hearing on "detrimental conduct" charges levied by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) closed Friday with NYRA's attorney arguing that the Hall-of-Fame trainer has trashed the sport with such an unprecedented litany of medication violations that NYRA needs to be allowed to punish him, while Baffert's lawyer countered that the real extraordinary aspect of the case involves vendetta-based accusations that could result in draconian sanctions NYRA has never before attempted to impose upon any other trainer. "Bob Baffert is not a cheater," the trainer's attorney, W. Craig...

French-based trainer Andrea Marcialis, already serving a six-month ban for allegedly operating a shadow training operation, is now likely to be on the sidelines until April 2025 after an investigation by France Galop stewards led to charges against the 35-year-old for various instances of medication violations and shadow operations, Racing Post reports. The cumulative ban for the four additional charges is three years and nine months. Marcialis picked up his initial ban in December of last year after stewards deemed he and his sister, Elisabetta Marcialis, had conspired to train...

In a settlement agreement and mutual release with the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), leading California trainer John Sadler has been fined $15,000 and handed a 60-day suspension--45 days of which are stayed--for three medication violations dating from 2019. The suspension runs June 29 through June 13. As part of the agreement, Sadler has been placed on probation for one year, ending June 28, 2021. If he incurs any medication violations during that period, the 45 days of stayed suspension will be imposed following a noticed hearing. As first reported...