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EQUINE
Gracious Living in the Horse Capital of the World®
Everything Equine p66
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A true Derby champion
Baffert not blameless, but Medina Spirit earned his victory at Churchill Downs
BY LOUISA BARTON,
Equine Initiative Director at the Ocala/Marion County Chamber and Economic Partnership, Farm Realtor and Host of the Horse Talk Show on the Sky 97.3
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Coady Photography | Facebook: Coady Photography | Twitter: @CoadyPhoto
From the perspective of someone like me, who has been to all of the big stakes races and to a variety of the less significant ones, I speak from my heart when I say it is all about the horses’ safety, good health and well-being. As a lifelong horse owner — and not ever from a money-making perspective, as I have only ever spent money on my horses — I can see the importance of taking care of our horses and always protecting them to the best of our ability. We are the voice of the horse.
In a world that can be confusing to some, because it is often difficult to know what might offend some people, I must take care to emphasize what truly matters to me — the safety of the horses. Those who care for them, groom them, train them and ride them, must protect them.
Sadly, and especially more recently, groups have spoken out against horse racing, even picketing the tracks and harassing those involved. Many of these groups would like to see horse racing come to an end altogether. I have seen the other side of this sport, the good side of it, and for that I am grateful. For those who say that horses do not like to race, I disagree. I have ridden the hills of Exmoor in England and I have seen wild horses run alongside me for no reason other than just that horses love to run. I have seen a race horse unseat a jockey out of the gate and the horse run the entire race without a rider and even run some more after that. Horses love to run, and they love to win.
As an advocate for the horse, I have been in the barns of many different breeds of horses in a variety of horse sports and I have never seen a race horse mistreated. Does that mean it does not happen? Of course not, but on a positive note, I have visited the backside of many race tracks and there I have
seen some of the cleanest, most well-bedded stalls, the finest hay, the most groomed horses, baby peeled organic carrots and even toys for them to play with.
I do accept the fact that there are people in this world, in all sports, with two-legged and four-legged participants, who break the rules and even cheat at times. However, I do not believe that this occurs more in horse racing than any other sport. I just believe that horse racing is under the microscope a lot more. I personally know a number of wonderful people involved in the horse racing industry who proudly prepare these horses for their racing careers, giving them as many tools as they can to be successful. Many even offer options for rehabilitation when rest is needed, while others offer race training for future careers and some even provide places for them to retire for the rest of their lives.
Do I think racing and other horse sports should return to just hay, oats and water? In most cases, I would say yes. In fact, in order to clear this sport of any suspicion, that may be 100 percent necessary. However, if I decided to train for a 5K race myself, I would not be pleased if I was told that I could not rub a therapeutic cream on my calf muscles if they were sore, or use an anti-fungal for a rash. If I could not take an aspirin or Tylenol for a headache the day before a race, I might think twice about training or running at all!
On the topic of medication use, since that has been a major concern in horse racing of late, with the Medina Spirit and Bob Baffert Kentucky Derby case in the forefront of racing news, I have a strong opinion. Initially, Baffert stated that Medina Spirit had never been given a steroid. Upon investigation, it was discovered that a cream used for the horse’s rash had contained the steroid Betamethasone. First of all, for anyone who is on the world stage like Bob Baffert, I think he must be above all suspicion. He, of all people, should set a standard for all other trainers. He should have the most immaculate barns with no opportunity for mistakes or accidental contamination.
That said, I do know that he cannot be everywhere at the same time. He is “the fisherman” and the media man. He shops for the horses for his clients, he entertains the clamoring media and he puts “the fish in the pond.” The purchased horses go to his assistant trainers in a variety of locations and Baffert cannot be in all places. Perhaps he needs to hire an entire staff in his training barns just to supervise medications and therapeutics prescribed and to monitor and log down these details on every horse, every time. If I were Bob Baffert, I would have that staff in every stall in every barn anywhere that I had horses in training or racing.
Either way, he should always be above reproach. He is the face of the sport! Maybe it is time for him to downsize and to try for quality, not quantity of horses and just have less and manage it much better and with much more hands-on accuracy. On that note, Baffert is human, and so are his staff, and as humans, we all make mistakes.
I also believe that non-performance enhancing drugs and medications should be set to an allowed level where accidental contamination could never be used to disqualify a trainer or a horse or raise any questions. For example, in harness racing, 100 picograms (a picogram is a trillionth of a gram) of Betamethasone is permitted on race day. This is the non-performance enhancing drug found in Medina Spirit’s system after the Derby. The reason that those who govern harness racing set it at this level is because anything over this amount could not be from accidental exposure. Betamethasone is also used for joint injections, but with different compounds. If there is a question, the other compounds should then be tested. This would answer the question of how this steroid was applied or used.
Also, there are at most only 20 horses in the Kentucky Derby. These 20 horses should be tested for everything prior to the race. If there is a drug that is not permitted on race day, the horse should not be allowed to run, period. Knowing these results before the race ever begins would prevent a situation like this from ever occurring again. In the age we now live in with instant everything, and the science we now have at our fingertips, this should be easy to do. It may cost a bit more money, but at this level of racing, this should also not be a concern. It costs a small fortune to get a horse like this in sport competition. To protect the horses and all those involved — from the breeder and the trainer to the owner and the rider — this is a small investment. It would also mean that the horse that we thought won the Derby really did win it and that would appease the betting public also.
In barns on the backside of Churchill Downs in the week up to the Derby, owners and their families and friends pass through the barns visiting and touching their horses. Security in the barns allows those in with owners’ passes. In the Winners’ Circle, there are many hands all over the triumphant horses. Grooms and saddling valets touch the horses and accidental exposure or contamination can happen. For example, Betamethasone is found in my mum’s daily-use psoriasis cream. I am quite sure that a horse could rub his muzzle on her scalp and become contaminated. To what level, I do not know, but it is possible. I also know that my mum would concur that rubbing this cream on her scalp every single day would not enable her to run a race like the race run by Medina Spirit on Derby day this year. In fact, veterinarians, and even Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, stated that the small amount of Betamethasone found could not have made any difference to the race this valiant little horse ran. He ran the race of his life, passing the best 19 horses in the USA to win the Kentucky Derby.
Had Medina Spirit been found to have a performance enhancing drug in his system, he should be taken down as the winner immediately and his trainer removed from racing and fined and prosecuted without hesitation. That is unacceptable, but this was not the case with Medina Spirit and his run across the finish line and into the his-
tory books. In fact, the Cinderella story of Gail Rice, a small Ocala breeder with just a couple of broodmares, gave us all hope and provided us with a wonderful heart-warming back story very close to home. It saddens most of us who love horses and the sports that involve them to even think about lessening Gail’s achievements and the glory this horse truly deserves.
Under no circumstances should a horse ever be given anything that would cheat the system or endanger the horse or rider to win any race. It is not fair on the other competitors, but far more important, any drug that makes a horse think it can exert more effort than it is really capable endangers the horse’s life and the rider on top. In recent years, the deaths at the Santa Anita race track in California brought to the world stage the concerns over these types of drugs and reform began to happen. I do believe this reform is positive and necessary, and I was pleased to see change coming, although I was not convinced that was the main cause of the Santa Anita deaths. That is another topic for another time and we may never have all the answers.
For racing jurisdictions to go from the sublime to the ridiculous overnight is bound to cause some problems. I have always used supplements for my horses, knowing that even grass and the highest quality grain and hay may not always provide everything they need. I have never considered that anything I gave my horses was to make them do more than they could. It was to make them more comfortable and as healthy as possible. There are trainers in the race horse world who do the same.
Rather than a knee-jerk reaction and a huge drastic overhaul at a variety of differing levels in different states, how about a racing commission over all the tracks in the USA with rules that are the same everywhere and perhaps lining those up with similar rules throughout the rest of the world. For example, a young intern or ambulatory vet at a track in California should not have to concern himself with knowing every rule at every track for every medication or how long that medication or cream could remain in a horse’s system. The outcome could also vary depending on a horse’s metabolism or its size. Every assistant trainer and groom should not need to be concerned about when they should stop using a cream or a therapeutic or a supplement when leaving California tracks to race in Kentucky, New York or Florida. For the future of horse racing, and all those who participate as trainer, owner, breeder or rider, we need a commission over all of horse racing in the USA. This commission would take the power away from the individual states and make the rules uniform across the board.
I spoke to Bob Baffert several times over the Kentucky Derby weekend and he didn’t think that Medina Spirit would even come close to winning. In fact, he said it was the first Derby where he was just relaxing and enjoying the races. To think that a Hall of Fame trainer like Baffert would risk drugging a horse he thought had no chance of winning seems quite doubtful. It seems far more likely that a mistake was made, but I do not believe that Medina Spirit was deliberately drugged to win. I also think if Baffert was trying to win and willing to take a risk, he would at least have used something that would help the horse win the race. Some have mentioned Baffert’s other failed drug tests over the past year. I cannot speak to each of those individually and I cannot say that I know Baffert is completely innocent of any wrongdoing or any mistakes. I am certain that as long as we have different rules at racetracks in different states, we will continue to have difficulties like this. However, I do believe that someone like Baffert should do whatever it takes to avoid ever even being questioned. On a positive note, the rules are the rules and they were put there, wrong or right, to protect the horse. Therefore, if the test results prove to be accurate after all potential requested testing is finalized, then the trainer should be penalized.
In the case of Medina Spirit, who ran his heart out and deserved to win the Kentucky Derby, I believe he should stay up. He proved himself when only two weeks later, he took the lead in the Preakness against fresh horses and held on until almost the end and only then tired and fell back to third. He still ran an outstanding race against the best of the best! Medina Spirit is a horse who is all heart. Low level accidental exposure to a non-performance enhancing drug should not steal his victory. If you feel that this is the fault of the trainer or his staff and that they should have had a better handle on the use of an anti-fungal cream, then by all means punish the trainer. Take his license away, fine him, suspend him, ban him or whatever seems to be fair, but do not take away the glory of this ‘little Ocala bred horse’ who definitely deserved the win!
Bob Baffert
etc
Dancing into summer
Photograph by Ralph Demilio
Charity: Shores Assembly p72 | Health Journal p76 | State of the City p78 | State of the County p80 Kiwanis Korner p82 | Rotary Circle p84 | Juneteenth p85 | OM Marketplace p86 | Looking Back p88
Care where it’s needed most
Shores Assembly lends help to a community on hard times
BY CARLTON REESE | PHOTOGRAPHY BY RALPH DEMILIO
When the principal of the elementary school across the street suggests that one of the top needs in the community is child care and education, you know the situation is somewhat dire. Reacting to this suggestion, Pastor John Delcamp of Shores Assembly of God immediately focused his church’s attention toward meeting those child care needs. The result was Kids Prep Academy and the Elijah School, affordable day care and educational opportunities for children in one of the most disadvantaged parts of Marion County.
“You need to start a good, quality child care center because parents don’t have anywhere to place their kids,” Delcamp paraphrased the school principal back in 2003. He was speaking of the Silver Springs Shores area in which he noted recent demographic studies that showed this community’s average household income to be around $26,000 below the national average. Beyond that, Delcamp points out that one-third of households in the community are headed by a single parent.
“We started with four children in the day care and four children in the school,” Delcamp said. “At one point, we had a backlog of 60 children.”
The facilities provide more than just a safe haven for parents to drop off their kids while they go to work. They provide hot meals, Christian guidance and discipline, and even clothes and shoes for those in need. Costs to parents are minimal, relative to similar programs, and are paid mainly through grants and congregational tithes.
Delcamp describes the parental hierarchy in the community as such: “What am I going to eat? What am I going to wear, and where am I going to sleep? Education is number 10.
