The tension between trainer Bob Baffert and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has been increasingly heightened since he was notified May 8 last year that his then Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, tested positive for an anti-inflammatory that is legal except on race day.
It was in the hours after Baffert learned of the positive test that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission took the extraordinary measure of recording without consent three phone calls it had with the trainer, which could be a violation of California law.
In transcripts of the calls reviewed by The Times, Baffert proclaimed his innocence, doubted the results, demanded an investigation, and asked that hair and DNA samples be taken of Medina Spirit to prove that this was just a big mistake. He volunteered that he and everyone in his barn would take a lie-detector test in an attempt to exonerate himself and his horse. Baffert was unaware his calls were being recorded as he was driving to Van Nuys Airport to take a private plane to Kentucky. California is an all-party consent state, meaning that all parties have to consent to being recorded and each individual must have a reasonable expectation of not being overheard.
