California horse racing officials 'secretly worked to clear trainer Bob Baffert's Justify after it failed a drug test ahead of its 2018 Triple Crown victory,' court records show

California horse racing officials reportedly worked in secret to improperly exonerate embattled Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and his Triple Crown-winning colt, Justify, after it tested positive for a banned substance in 2018.

Confidential court records obtained by The Washington Post include emails, memorandums and other materials showing the California Horse Racing Board's efforts to circumvent the group's own rules — and in some cases, rewriting them — to benefit Baffert as Justify was becoming just the second horse ever to win the Triple Crown with an undefeated record.

As was revealed by the New York Times in 2019, Justify tested positive for the banned substance scopolamine, an anti-nausea medication, which allegedly has performance-enhancing qualities. The failed drug test occurred in April of 2018 after Justify won the Santa Anita Derby, and had it been revealed at the time, the violation would have prevented the colt from running in the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby.

California horse racing officials reportedly worked in secret to improperly exonerate embattled Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and his Triple Crown-winning colt, Justify, after it tested positive for a banned substance in 2018. Baffert, 68, is currently under fire over another one of his thoroughbreds, Medina Spirit, that tested positive for a prohibited amount of the anti-inflammatory steroid betamethasone after winning the Kentucky Derby in May. Medina Spirit could still be stripped of its Derby victory by race officials. Baffert has claimed that the positive test was the result of an anti-fungal ointment that contained a small amount of the steroid

The California Horse Racing Board delayed any ruling in the matter and eventually voted unanimously to dismiss the case in August of 2018, claiming that the positive test could have been the result of contaminated food. Since then, Mick Ruis, the trainer and owner of the 2018 Santa Anita Derby's runner-up, sued the CHRB in hopes of vacating Justified's victory. Ruis ultimately agreed to settle with the CHRB, although no monetary damages were assessed, according to the Post. 

Baffert, 68, is currently under fire over another one of his thoroughbreds, Medina Spirit, that tested positive for a prohibited amount of the anti-inflammatory steroid betamethasone after winning the Kentucky Derby in May. Medina Spirit could still be stripped of its Derby victory by race officials. Baffert has claimed that the positive test was the result of an anti-fungal ointment that contained a small amount of the steroid.

The New York Racing association has banned Baffert from entering any horses in races within the state until an investigation is completed, and Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby, has suspended him through the 2023 season.

In July, a 23-page analysis of Ruis's lawsuit was sent to the CHRB by a California deputy attorney general. 

Baffert pictured alongside 2018 Triple Crown Winner Justify ahead of its Preakness victory 

According to the Post, the synopsis claims state lawyers were concerned about the agency's response to the failed drug test. One state lawyer reportedly wrote that a court 'could find that the CHRB abused its discretion and acted in a manner that was arbitrary, capricious, or entirely lacking in evidentiary support.'

In response to the Washington Post story, Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robertson III cited the CHRB's 2018 decision.

'There is nothing new here,' he wrote.

California's medical equine director, Rick Arthur , told the Post that he was only 'disappointed' by the CHRB's secrecy, but thought the board handled the case correctly' 

A CHRB spokesman told the Post that it would not comment, citing the pending litigation.

Rick Baedeker, who was the executive director of the CHRB before retiring last year, denied giving any preferential treatment to Baffert.

Similarly, California's medical equine director, Rick Arthur, told the Post that he was only 'disappointed' by the CHRB's secrecy, but thought the board handled the case correctly.

'The way this case was handled was not a favor for Bob Baffert,' Arthur said. 'The way this case was handled was out of respect for Justify.'

Both Baedeker and Arthur told the Post that any perceived delay in deciding Justify's case was unavoidable, and was not intended to accommodate Baffert's desire for the colt to run in the Kentucky Derby. As Arthur explained, the proper procedures involved with a failed drug test simply take too long and do not allow for a quick resolution.

'This horse was going to run at the Triple Crown,' Arthur said.

It was a recommendation from Arthur to the CHRB that may have helped Justify beat the failed drug test in 2018.

A year earlier, the Association of Racing Commissioners International urged that scopolamine be reclassified, making it a minor violation that wouldn't require disqualification.

Jockey Mike Smith and racing horse Justify enter the winners circle at the 143rd Preakness Stakes on May 19, 2018 in Baltimore, Maryland

The CHRB did not adopt the recommendation at the time, but did so in 2018 in the case of Justify.

'The new classification simply makes more sense pharmacologically,' Arthur wrote in his recommendation.

Arthur, serving as a CHRB advisor on drug testing, cited the ARCI's reclassification of scopolamine in making his recommendation on Justify.

'I believe there is some precedent in criminal law when a law is changed from a felony to a misdemeanor how they should be prosecuted even before the new law becomes effective,' Arthur wrote.

Furthermore, Arthur may have given Baffert advanced notice that a ruling on Justify's sample wouldn't be ready before the Kentucky Derby in 2018. He also told the trainer that the positive test could be blamed on food contaminated by Jimson weed.

'I told there would be nothing from CHRB before the KY Derby, unlikely before the Preakness and possibly not until after the Belmont,' Arthur wrote. 'I told him I thought there was a good indication that these were feed contamination.'

Hoppertunity gallops in preparation for the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita Race Track on November 1, 2016 in Arcadia, California. In 2018, Hoppertunity tested positive for scopolamine, an anti-nausea medication, which has performance-enhancing qualities

After Justify won the Kentucky Derby on May 5, Arthur recommended that a leafy substance at Santa Anita Park be tested for Jimson weed — a possible contaminate — but stressed in an email that the results should be revealed after the Preakness, which was less than two weeks away.

Baedeker did acknowledge that the investigation was taking longer than normal at the time.

rainer Bob Baffert of Medina Spirit, raises the trophy after winning the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby with Medina Spirit, his seventh career Kentucky Derby win. Since then, Medina spirit has tested positive for a steroid, and its Derby win could be vaccated

'We might have gone to the board sooner, but obviously because of the high-profile nature of this thing we were making sure we had everything buttoned up,' he said, as quoted by the Post.

Ultimately the plant samples obtained at Santa Anita Park turned out to be milkweed.

Eventually, the owner of a feed operation favored by Baffert claimed he found some Jimson weed in product that was sent out over a month earlier, adding that there was no way to tell if it was eaten by Justify. The sample submitted by the feed company owner turned out to be Jimson weed.

Later, on June 9, Justify won the Belmont Stakes to claim the Triple Crown, and the good news for the colt didn't stop there.  

In August, the CHRB presented a two-page memo claiming that an 'extensive investigation' found the positive test was the result of 'an environmental contamination.'

Deputy Attorney General Robert Petersen wrote in a subsequent case assessment in July of 2020 that punishing Baffert 'would have been unfair' because of what he called 'an oversight by CHRB staff.'

Peterson also wrote that 'there is no evidence to suggest a nefarious motive' by the CHRB.

Peterson did not respond to the Post's interview request.

The CHRB agreed to settle Ruis's case, but was not required to pay the plaintiff any of the $400,000 in damages he was seeking, according to the Post.

The three-person Santa Anita's Board of Stewards said the CHRB investigation 'followed the law' but went on to say that it would have ruled differently, disqualifying Justify and Hoppertunity, another Baffert horse that tested positive ahead of the 2018 Santa Anita Derby.

Ruis's lawyers are now pushing to rescind the settlement 'because the stewards refused to make a decision on the merits.'

'I remain convinced that justice has not yet been served and that hopefully the courts will resolve the matter,' Darrell Vienna, Ruis's attorney told The Post.