UNFORTUNATE. That is the kindest word that was used following the positive drug finding this week. The case was that of the Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, the fairytale winner of the best-known event in American racing, a classic that catches that nation’s imagination in the same way that the Melbourne Cup captivates the Australians.
The word unfortunate was used by John Gosden, the man of reason when it comes to matters concerning our sport. Perhaps it was such a case, resulting from the application of an ointment for a skin irritation. I would normally be inclined to agree with him, were he referencing almost any other trainer than Bob Baffert.
I give anyone accused of something, whether a misdemeanour or a crime, the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. That is a constitutional guarantee at the heart of any legal system. It applies to Mr Baffert as much as it does to everyone else.
However, there are a number of issues I have with the current case, and they make me very uneasy. My principal concern is the apparent laissez faire attitude that the leading American trainer has to the whole area of drugs and their control. His record is there for all to see, and in his position he should be doubly rigorous when it comes to the application of any substance to a horse in his care.
The finding, or the excuse, for the Kentucky Derby winner’s positive result was only put on the table after a range of other possibilities had been suggested by the trainer. In a stable of Baffert’s size and status, surely the application of an ointment would have been the first thing to ring an alarm bell? If not, then the trainer’s management should be called into question.
Today, Medina Spirit, the $1,000 yearling who is tentatively a classic winner, aims to add the second leg of the Triple Crown to his curriculum vitae, and it is only fair that he should be allowed to do so. However, everything he does now is overshadowed by this dark cloud hanging over the colt, the result of what can only be described as at best stupidity, and at worst incompetence, on the part of the Baffert stable.
This is one of a number of drug controversies that have dogged Baffert in the past year alone. The damage to the sport is huge, and this obviously talented trainer needs to be more contrite, and more fully appreciate the role he plays and the importance of his actions, or indeed inactions.