THE bombshell in US racing this week was not that Mandy Pope intended to buy Beholder and Mendelssohn’s half-sister for $4 million but went to $8.2 million, but the New York Times (NYT) revelation in an article by Joe Drape that 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify had failed a drugs test after the Santa Anita Derby and that an investigation by the CHRB had been hushed up and no action taken.

Justify went on to win the Triple Crown and has become one of the most valuable stallions in the world as a staying son of the ill-fated Scat Daddy, desired by Coolmore among others who reportedly paid $60 million for breeding rights. His first book of mares was phenomenal. Mares like Found, Groupie Doll, Global Glamour, Havre De Grace, Imagine, Misty For Me, Rumplesiltskin, Tapestry and Virginia Waters, to name but a few.

Bob Baffert and connections have been quick to plead their innocence and parts of the original NYT article have stretched what are often normal stages in the process to look more sinister.

From the many accounts written, it appears that the CHRB did not have evidence in time after all the due process testing procedures had been exhausted to disqualify Justify before the Kentucky Derby. It would be the same here if similar investigations were being taken.

An obvious question though was that if the substance was ingested from feed contaminated accidentally, why did no other Baffert horse test positive? Baffert also trained another winner on the Santa Anita Derby card that day.

It’s accepted that the substance found, scopolamine, is sourced in jimson weed native to California and can be accidently mixed up in hay.

Elliott Walden, president of partners in the horse, WinStar, was a bit dismissive in a comment to TDN: “I understood it was a known contaminant in California. We turned it over to an attorney, Craig Robertson, he communicated with them that he was handling it for us, and never heard about it again.”

Slightly casual you might have thought, not to follow up, given the horse’s subsequent reputation and value.

Yet more information coming to light on the ‘drug’ by other US racing writers made it unlikely a trainer would give it to a racehorse, let alone his best one.

Racing’s sense of insecurity is often its own failing and comes back to bite it. Publishing a report after all tests were carried out by the authorities might have been wiser than leaving it looking as if there was a cover-up. It should not have tarnished Justify’s racing reputation, as he passed all tests during the Triple Crown, if a full explanation was given.

The unfortunate problem is that the public will only see the headline: “California horse racing officials covered up a Triple Crown winner’s positive test result for a performance enhancing drug.”

You could easily contradict that statement made by Baffert’s lawyer that “the CHRB did right by all parties, including the industry”.