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Trainer Bob Baffert was a staple at the Kentucky Derby until 2021, when what was initially his record-setting seventh win turned into one of horse racing's greatest scandals.
Baffert spent the next three years fighting to return to Churchill Downs, and the long journey back to the iconic race is coming to an end in 2025 as the six-time champion welcomes the end of his suspension.
While Baffert's success is unprecedented in the 21st century and even beyond, the saga that kept him out of the Kentucky Derby for three years is just one element of the controversy that has followed him throughout the latter portion of his career.
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Here's what you need to know about Baffert's controversies, including the deaths of some of his horses.
Bob Baffert suspension
Baffert was initially suspended from Churchill Downs for two years in 2021 after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a drug test following the race. Medina Spirit was later disqualified as a result of the scandal, and Baffert was handed a heavy punishment.
Baffert fought the ban as soon as it was handed down, but his legal battles were unsuccessful. Churchill Downs then extended the ban in July 2023, keeping Baffert out of the Kentucky Derby through 2024. Churchill Downs explained that Baffert's suspension was extended due to "continued concerns regarding the threat to the safety and integrity of racing he poses to CDI-owned racetracks."
Baffert petitioned for a temporary injunction in 2024 to allow horses he trained into the Kentucky Derby, but the request was denied less than three weeks before the race.
Baffert was also suspended from the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes as a result of Medina Spirit's failed test, but he was reinstated ahead of the respective 2023 races. Baffert wasted no time getting back to the top at the Preakness, as he won with National Treasure in 2023.
Medina Spirit, subject of the 2021 Kentucky Derby scandal, died suddenly seven months after the race. Here's what you need to know about other horses who have died while being trained by Baffert.
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How many Bob Baffert horses have died?
As Baffert came under increased scrutiny following Medina Spirit's disqualification in 2021, the Washington Post found that at least 74 horses had died under his care since 2000. That was months before Medina Spirit himself collapsed and died unexpectedly.
Baffert's horses suffered 8.3 deaths per 1,000 starts, the report concluded. Among the 10 California trainers with the most horse deaths in that span, Baffert's ratio was the highest.
Baffert's lawyers disputed the findings in 2021, saying the number of deaths among his the trainer's horses was "consistent with what would normally be expected from the horse population in general."
"Every investigation over the past 20 years has reached the same conclusion: no rules or regulations have been violated nor has there been any improper activity on Bob's part," Baffert's lawyers said, adding that each death prompts its own investigation.
Horse deaths are unfortunately not unprecedented or even uncommon in racing — there were seven deaths at Churchill Downs in the week leading up to the Kentucky Derby and other races in 2023, none of which were Baffert's horses because he was banned — but evidence points to a disproportionate number of deaths by horses under Baffert's care.
Here's a timeline of notable incidents involving Baffert's horses.
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Bob Baffert horse deaths timeline
2004
Multiplication, which had won an undercard race before the Belmont Stakes just two weeks earlier, died of a heart attack after a training session in 2004. Multiplication was trained by Baffert and owned by Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale.
2011-2013
One of the most grim periods of Baffert's career came between late 2011 and early 2013, when seven of his horses died suddenly in a span of 16 months. Each horse died away from the race track, meaning injury was not a factor.
Baffert was not found to have committed any wrongdoing, though the California Horse Racing Board noted that the odds of so many deaths in such a short amount of time were equivalent to 1-in-1,000.
2019-2021
Only two of Baffert's horses died in a three-year span leading up to the 2021 Kentucky Derby, the Los Angeles Times noted, a figure that was lower than the average trainer in California at the time.
Late in 2021, however, Medina Spirit suddenly collapsed and died after a training session just seven months after crossing the finish line first at the Kentucky Derby. While Medina Spirit's cause of death was not made clear outside of a heart attack, the horse had tested positive for the drug betamethasone at the Kentucky Derby.
2023
Baffert made his return to Triple Crown races at the 2023 Preakness Stakes, but one of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized after suffering a severe injury in an undercard race.
2025
Two of Baffert's horses died in April after suffering injuries. A horse named Willy was euthanized after an injury on April 3, while another named Non Compliant was euthanized on April 17.
Coming just weeks before Baffert's return to the Kentucky Derby, the deaths put the spotlight back on the six-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer and the controversies he's faced throughout his career.
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