TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2021 NYRA BANS BAFFERT THREE-YEAR LICENSE REVOCATION, $50K FINE FOR RICE'S 'IMPROPER AND CORRUPT CONDUCT' by T.D. Thornton Linda Rice had her training license immediately revoked for a period of "no less than three years" and was fined $50,000 May 17 when New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) members voted 5-0 to agree with a hearing officer that Rice's years-long pattern of seeking and obtaining confidential pre-entry information from New York Racing Association (NYRA) racing office workers was "intentional, serious and extensive, and that her actions constituted improper and corrupt conductY inconsistent with and detrimental to the best interests of horse racing." Rice had testified during eight days of NYSGC hearings late in 2020 that she had handed over cash gifts amounting to thousands of dollars at a time to NYRA racing office employees Bob Baffert | Horsephotos between 2011 and 2015. Cont. p3 by Bill Finley There was more bad news for Bob Baffert Monday, as the New York Racing Association announced that it has temporarily IN TDN EUROPE TODAY suspended the trainer, which means he will not be allowed to JOE MERCER DIES AT 86 enter any horses at NYRA tracks or occupy stall space. Former champion jockey Joe Mercer OBE has passed away at AIn order to maintain a successful thoroughbred racing 86. Click or tap here to go straight to TDN Europe. industry in New York, NYRA must protect the integrity of the sport for our fans, the betting public and racing participants,@ NYRA President and CEO Dave O=Rourke said in a statement. AThat responsibility demands the action taken today in the best interests of thoroughbred racing.@ While Baffert was not planning on running any of his horses in the GI Belmont S., he was aiming Charlatan (Speightstown) for the GI Hill >n= Dale Metropolitan H., run the same day as the Belmont. In most years, Baffert has also had starters during the Saratoga meet. It was not immediately known whether or not Charlatan or any other horses now trained by Baffert can run at the NYRA tracks for other trainers. NYRA has joined Churchill Downs as tracks that are no longer accepting entries from Baffert. After agreeing to a number of conditions, including pre-race drug tests, Baffert was allowed to compete in the GI Preakness S. and other weekend stakes at Pimlico, by the track=s owner, The Stronach Group. Medina Spirit (Protonico) ran third in the Preakness and stablemate Concert Tour (Street Sense) finished a well-beaten ninth. Cont. p3 PUBLISHER & CEO Sue Morris Finley @suefinley [email protected] SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT Gary King @garykingTDN [email protected] EDITORIAL [email protected] Editor-in-Chief Jessica Martini @JessMartiniTDN Senior Contributing Editor Tuesday, May 18, 2021 Alan Carasso @EquinealTDN Senior Editor Steve Sherack @SteveSherackTDN Racing Editor Brian DiDonato @BDiDonatoTDN Deputy Editor Christie DeBernardis @CDeBernardisTDN Associate Editors Christina Bossinakis @CBossTDN Joe Bianca @JBiancaTDN News and Features Editor In Memoriam: Ben Massam (1988-2019) ADVERTISING [email protected] Director of Advertising Alycia Borer Advertising Manager Lia Best Advertising Designer Amanda Crelin Advertising Project Manager Rachel McCaffrey Advertising Assistants Amie Newcomb Kristen Lomasson Photographer/Photo Editor Sarah K. Andrew @SarahKAndrew Spectators arrive at the entrance of Belmont Park in 1905, the same year in which the [email protected] facility opened. | Keeneland Library/Charles Christian Cook Collection Social Media Strategist Justina Severni MIDLANTIC SALE OPENS WITH A BANG 5 Associate Producer An Eddie Woods-consigned son of Quality Road fetched a final bid Katie Ritz of $1.5 million from West Point Thoroughbreds' Terry Finley to top Director of Customer Service Monday's opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds Vicki Forbes in Training Sale in Timonium, MD. TDN Editor-In-Chief Jessica Martini [email protected] anchors our comprehensive coverage. Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen @AlaynaCullen MCANALLY RUNNER TESTS POSITIVE FOR CBD 12 Director of IT & Accounting A horse trained by Hall of Famer Ron McAnally and owned by his wife Ray Villa Deborah has tested positive for a metabolite of cannabidiol (CBD), [email protected] [email protected] according to a complaint filed by the California Horse Racing Board Monday. Jockey Geovanni Franco, who rode Roses and Candy admitted WORLDWIDE INFORMATION to McAnally's assistant trainer that he had used CBD himself. International Editor Kelsey Riley @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson @HLAndersonTDN Newmarket Bureau, Cafe Racing Sean Cronin & Tom Frary [email protected] 60 Broad Street, Suite 100 Red Bank, NJ 07701 732-747-8060 | www.TheTDN.com TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 3 OF 16 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MAY 18, 2021 In a response to TDN via email, Baffert=s attorney, W. Craig Linda Rice Fined, Suspended cont. Robertson, said: AI am just now reviewing the NYRA decision and But the veteran conditioner, who has been training since 1987 then I will discuss it with Bob, along with all of his legal options. and owns seven NYRA training titles, also testified that she did No formal statement or decision until both of those take place.@ not expect any special favors in return for that money, and that Baffert=s troubles began when he announced that he had been any entry-related information she did receive from NYRA informed by the Kentucky Racing Commission that Medina Spirit employees was a type of disclosure that was routinely divulged had tested positive for the banned medication betamethasone, to other trainers. which is a corticosteroid. The betamethasone positive cannot be Cont. p4 officially confirmed until after a split sample has been tested. Baffert has admitted that Medina Spirit was treated with an anti-fungal ointment which contains betamethasone. NYRA acknowledged that, when making the decision, it took under consideration that Baffert has had numerous positives over the last several months. AIn addition to the ongoing investigation into Medina Spirit=s victory in the Kentucky Derby, NYRA has taken into account the fact that other horses trained by Mr. Baffert have failed drug tests in the recent past, resulting in the assessment of penalties against him by thoroughbred racing regulators in Kentucky, California, and Arkansas,@ read NYRA=s statement. NYRA called the suspension Atemporary@ and said it will make a final determination based on information revealed during the course of the ongoing investigation in Kentucky, such as the post-Kentucky Derby test results of Medina Spirit. Linda Rice | Sarah Andrew TDN HEADLINE NEWS • PAGE 4 OF 16 • THETDN.COM TUESDAY • MAY 18, 2021 Linda Rice cont. racesYbefore the entries closed and you decided to enter the In most racing jurisdictions, telling trainers which other horses horses you were training in such races or not.'' have been entered or are considering a particular race is a clear The start of that hearing was delayed during the early stages rules violation, because it affords a trainer an advantage over of the pandemic, so it took another full year before Rice's case others who enter horses without knowledge of the caliber of finally commenced in November 2020. The proceedings competition. stretched out over eight calendar days and included 60 evidence But in practice, one could make the case that some form of exhibits and testimony from 16 witnesses. tipping-off to trainers exists to various degrees in racing offices As is routine during NYSGC hearing adjudications announced all across America, particularly in the current era of races at public meetings, the merits of the case were not debated routinely needing to be "hustled" to fill because of a thin Monday among commissioners, who had previously voted on nationwide horse population. the outcome after receiving the hearing officer's final report Within that realm of rules-bending there are numerous dated Apr. 13. The results of the vote were merely read into the gray-area distinctions, ranging from the relatively innocuous record. encouragement of trainers to enter into what is considered an NYSGC chairman Barry Sample did underscore when reading easy spot all the way up to trainers proactively and sometimes the results of the vote to suspend and fine Rice that commission predatorially seeking a steady stream of inside info and paying members "concurred with the penalty recommended by hearing handsomely to receive it. officer [Clark Petschek] but modified the report to specifically TDN left email and phone messages for Rice and her attorney reflect that the hearing officer found multiple violations," which Monday seeking comment and to find out if a court appeal is in was a factor in the board fining Rice above the $25,000 the works. Neither replied prior to deadline for this story. per-violation penalty that is recommended in the state's racing The specific accusations against Rice stemmed from a separate rules. NYRA investigation that had been launched in 2014 when it was A TDN request to the NYSGC to obtain a copy of the hearing revealed that several NYRA racing office employees with access officer's full report did not yield a response prior to deadline for to The Jockey Club's InCompass entry management software this story. had been improperly sharing login access to the system with horsemen and jockey agents. One employee was eventually fired after the scheme was uncovered and another had his license suspended for other racing-office infractions. In early 2018, Daily Racing Form first reported that Rice Follow the TDN staff on Twitter Thoroughbred Daily News allegedly made payments to NYRA officials in order to obtain knowledge--and sometimes the past performances--of rival @kelseynrileyTDN @BDiDonatoTDN @SteveSherackTDN horses likely to be entered against her trainees.