[ad_1]
In 2018, Justify became the 13th horse to win the Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that the colt had failed a drug test prior to the Kentucky Derby and should not have been eligible to run.
The Times reports that the horse was tested positive for scopolamine, a banned performance boost, after winning the Santa Anita derby on April 7, 2018.
Report: Baffert aware of test result before Derby
According to the report, California regulators waited nearly three weeks to inform Justify coach Bob Baffert of the test's positive result nine days before the Kentucky Derby on May 5th.
The timeline means that Baffert entered his horse knowing that the test was positive. According to the report, few people at the time knew about it.
Instead of immediately disqualifying Kentucky Derby's favorite, the California Horse Racing Board took more than a month to confirm the results and refused to publicly disclose the results when he did, according to The report.
Report: Council changed the rules after a positive test
The board finally decided to file the case and decided to mitigate the penalty for a scopolamine positive result when Justify had won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes to complete the Triple Crown, according to the report.
The Times reports that two months after Justify completed the Triple Crown, the jury concluded that Justify had been able to eat the positive test and had dropped the investigation before moving from sanctioning the positive test to scopolamine to a fine and a possible suspension in October.
California Horse Racing Board director Rick Baedeker told the Times that the case had progressed slowly due to the nature of the positive test.
"There was no way we could produce an investigation report before the Kentucky Derby," said Baedeker. "It's impossible – well, it's not impossible, it would have been careless and imprudent to tell an investigator what usually takes you two months, you have to be treated in five or eight days. We would not do that.
Baffert did not respond to the Times request for comment.
Expert: test results indicate intentional doping
The report notes that the presence of jimson sometimes present in the diet of horses can give a positive result to the test of scopolamine.
The Times spoke with Dr. Rick Sams, who led the Addiction Laboratory for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission from 2011 to 2018. He stated that the amount found in the Justify System – 300 milligrams – by means of documents obtained by the Times indicated that his administration was intentional. .
"I think it has to come from an intentional intervention," he said.
Baffert's problems in 2013 regarding the death of a horse
The California Horse Racing Board investigated Baffert in 2013 when seven of his horses died unexpectedly at Inglewood's Hollywood Park in 16 months.
It was found that Baffert had administered thyroid hormone, thyroxine, to horses, despite the lack of evidence of hypothyroidism that this hormone is intended to treat.
Baffert was exonerated after the board had determined that the drug's administration did not violate any rule.
"It's legally distributed and reported as being labeled," said Dr. Rick Arthur after overseeing the autopsies of the dead horses. "They had the right to do it. There is no rule violation. You want to have a moment "Aha!", But this has been used in his stable all the time. "
The value of Justify was estimated at $ 75 million after obtaining the Triple Crown.
More from Yahoo Sports:
[ad_2]
Source link