The building on Union Avenue in Saratoga Springs is just yards from the oldest horse racing track in the United States and is steeped in a noble spirit.
The "National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame" wants to "preserve and spread the history of thoroughbred breeding" and thus set a monument to American turf.
The Hall of Fame not only celebrates outstanding horses, but above all bipeds - mainly jockeys and trainers.
Hardly anyone is celebrated at this place halfway between New York and Montreal as coach Bob Baffert. And he was already before he achieved a special feat twice with the stallions Justify and American Pharoah: He won all three races of the Triple Crown with them, in which the best of the Derby class are determined. His last success at the beginning of May this year at the Kentucky Derby, the first stop of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, is still celebrated without reservation. And this despite the fact that both doping tests after the race showed that the winning horse Medina Spirit, cared for by Baffert, had been treated with the banned anti-inflammatory steroid hormone betamethasone. Churchill Downs banned him for two years,so he will have to skip two Kentucky derbies. Of course, there is no reference to this in the museum. Baffert has been the personification of the industry's pharmacological trickery, which is now even preoccupying the American Congress, at the latest since this ban was issued last Wednesday.
The indolence of the guardians of the milieu is not surprising. Baffert has a lot of friends. Like Sol Kumin, co-owner of Justify and one of the pioneers of the trend towards risk-taking owner communities who invest in young thoroughbreds motivated by a certain casino mentality. He has no intention of taking his 30 horses out of Baffert's care. "We will continue to support him," he announced.
The racetrack in the Californian town of Santa Anita, the seat of the Bob Baffert Racing Stables, has so far withdrawn from a formal legal view of the affair. Because the decision of Churchill Downs, the Louisville racetrack and corporation of the same name with a billion dollar turnover and 4,500 employees, is one thing. The supervisory commission in the state of Kentucky, however, which could be the only one to disqualify the derby winner retrospectively because of the findings, has not yet dealt with the matter. In Santa Anita one wants to wait for the end of the story.
After all, Medina Spirit was missing on Saturday at the third station of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes in New York. At the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland, he had finished third. The New York State Race Inspectorate had also suspended Baffert. The race was won by betting favorite Essential Quality by a narrow margin over Hot Rod Charlie.
The geographically limited ban on the prominent coach could cause further problems for the competitors. It could have an impact on next year's derby season. All aspirants who are to be started at the Kentucky Derby next year in Louisville must qualify with good results using a points system in previous races. The problem: Any thoroughbred who runs against a Baffert horse on these occasions and is defeated by him, points are withheld in this system and he is directly disadvantaged.