By: Kerry Ding

The two masters of horse training, Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher’s, horses have been winning horse racing competitions for years. For eight years, these two people have trained horses that have won competitions one after the other. However, in recent years, more people are recognizing that Bob and Todd may be cheating.

Everyone in the horse racing community has agreed that Bob and Todd both seem to have a gift for horse training. The two both train their horses vigorously just to give them an edge on winning, but it seems other things are at play. In just the past year, the horses owned by Todd Pletcher have failed drug tests 6 times. Bob Baffert also has a long history of drug use on horses. Over the past 4 decades, 30 drug tests have failed. Medina Spirit, a horse owned by Bob Baffert, got first place at the 2021 Kentucky Derby, but failed the test for illegal drugs for horses and was disqualified from the race. Months later, Medina Spirit died.

During this racing season, 12 horses mysteriously died. Two horses even died on the track. Federal regulators have continued to investigate these deaths.

A few weeks ago, Bob Baffert came back to the Preakness, for the first time since he was banned from the Triple Crown because of Medina Spirit’s drug uses. A horse owned by Baffert won again, but only after one of his other horses had a serious injury and had to be killed on the track.

These deaths made the Congressional Animal Protection Caucus start an investigation of the deaths. Animal rights activists have been calling for the stopping of all horse racing as it could be abusive to the horses. Eventually, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority caved in. Now they have placed more safety measures and made sure that their trainers are treating the horses properly.

Both Baffert and Pletcher have a lot of wins in the Kentucky Derby, and both have hundreds of millions of dollars in purses. They would do anything to get the upper hand.

Over the past few years, many drugs and concoctions have been used to get an advantage over opponents. Just last year, Jason Servis was arrested for five years because he pledged guilty of acquiring, distributing, and directing others to use drugs that can enhance a horse’s performance.

The drugs that Baffert and Pletcher on their horses are pain medicine. This is dangerous because, if a horse doesn’t think they are injured they might keep running even with a fatal injury. If it runs even faster, it can cause more damage to injuries.

For example, Forte, Pletcher’s horse was the best at starting the Derby, but people had a reason to be afraid. Forte was put on a vet’s list. This meant he was less likely to win, as he could have a major injury, people at the time weren’t sure. He was declared unsound, or he had gotten a joint injection which was still allowed.

Right after the Derby, The New York Times disclosed that Forte had failed a drug test. The horse tested positive for meloxicam, a dangerous anti-inflammatory drug. The United States had already made sure that these drugs were not allowed for horses.

A few months after the test, some New York regulators gave Pletcher a ten-day suspension and a $1000 fine. However, in a text message Repole, the owner of Forte, said “He was NEVER on Meloxicam,”

Although Forte isn’t the only horse to be drugged to win, it is still considered a serious crime to drug racehorses. Yet both Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher seem to avoid consequences and will continue to be horse trainers.

Sources:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/09/sports/horse-racing/09baffert-pletcher-horse-racing.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/09/sports/horse-racing/forte-kentucky-derby-doping.html