Top trainer Bob Baffert ordered to give up £88,000 winnings after racehorse found with Class C drug in system
HALL OF FAME trainer Bob Baffert has been fined and stripped of £88,000 of prize money after star filly Gamine was found to have a Class C drug in her system.
A post-race blood test revealed the anti-inflammatory in Gamine’s system after the Kentucky Oaks last September.
Kentucky stewards published their findings after Baffert waived his right to a hearing.
The drug betamethasone found in the superstar filly is legal, but must have passed through a horse at least 14 days before a race.
The positive test was first reported in the New York Times and is one of a number of high-profile cases to have hit American racing.
Gamine was also disqualified from a May 2 race that she won at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
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A postrace test showed the local anesthetic lidocaine in her system.
Another Baffert horse, Charlatan, was disqualified the same day from his victory in a division of the Arkansas Derby for the same medication.
Baffert maintained that both incidents were the result of accidental contamination as the result of one of his employees wearing a patch that contained lidocaine.
Oaklawn stewards suspended him for 15 days.
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Baffert has appealed the test results and disqualifications at Oaklawn. The cases have yet to be heard before the Arkansas Racing Commission.
Australia racing has also been hit by a drugs storm after Jarrod McLean was banned for three years.
The Aussie admitted to giving horse Cats Fun an EPO.
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