Black is the New Grey

An interesting standoff is developing across the pond.

Bob Baffert is the third most successful trainer in US history. Recently he has developed a drug problem.

Betamethasone is an anti-inflammatory steroid. Racing authorities consider it a legitimate treatment for horses, providing nothing remains in the system at the time of a race.

It has a half-life of about 12 hours. That means that after four days less than half a percent of the original dose is present. The recommendation is to leave fourteen days between an injection and an appearance at the track.

Steroids are - in the short term - performance enhancing. They have a Pepperami effect, turning any recipient into - well - a bit of an animal.

A horse running with just a small amount in its blood is likely to gain a length or two.

Baffert, a Hall of Famer, has won the triple crown three times. The first leg this year, the Kentucky Derby, was won by his Medina Spirit at 12/1. Post-race tests revealed a trace of betamethasone.

The trainer has, as it were, form. Another from his stable tested positive for steroids last year. He admitted the drug had been used, but maintained that the last injection had been administered a full eighteen days before the race.

This time he claimed that he hadn’t given his horse any injection, but speculated that the drug showed as a result of ointment rubbed in to treat eczema.

Tests by the authorities can only measure the presence of a drug, not how it was administered or when.

Also in 2020 Baffert was banned for two weeks after Lidocaine was found in two of his runners, both of whom won. On appeal - the trainer retains the services of a very expensive firm of solicitors - the ban was overturned and the horses concerned were reinstated as winners.

The current curious situation is that Medina Spirit is still listed as the winner of the Derby. Notwithstanding the test result, he was allowed to run in the Preakness, the second leg, where he came third. The Kentucky stewards will reconvene should a second sample also test positive

Baffert has now been banned, but only by the New York authority and only ‘temporarily’. Based in California, the trainer can enter horses anywhere else in the country.

His lawyers are lurking.

This appears to be a case of boundary pushing, something all professional sportspeople do. Cricketers don’t walk, footballers are given a slap on the wrist for simulation (faking injury), but in neither of those two instances is a third party (in this case a horse) given drugs that may or may not be medically justified. Athletes who cheat are only risking their own health.

A less wealthy trainer with a less impressive legal team might receive shorter shrift. Many contend that when the issue is medication applied to an animal that has no choice in the matter, then the powers that be should err on the side of prevention of abuse.

In other words, be tougher. A grey area should be considered black when the welfare of horses is on the line.