The NYRA Isn't Fucking Around - Bans Bob Baffert From Entering Horses At ALL NYRA Tracks, Including The Belmont

Well, safe to say the NYRA is not fucking around. They just banned Bob Baffert from all NYRA tracks, which of course includes Belmont. Do you know how many horses Bob Baffert trains? Just a little tip, it's a lot. It also means no Medina Spirit, no Concert Tour, no nothing at Belmont. That's massive. Those are names that help draw attention to the final leg of the Triple Crown and obviously Baffert who really is the face of the sport. I mean look at this guy: 

Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.

Andy Lyons. Getty Images.

He just looks like a villain - and obviously Ashley Shaeffer from Eastbound and Down. There's now a firm line in the sand though. You either are backing Baffert, the minority, or you are cheering against him. That showed at the Preakness as Medina Spirit dropped from the favorite pretty early and then obviously dropped down the home stretch. Thanks for that by the way, as someone who needed Rombauer to close a pick-4. 

Now obviously if a test result comes back and clears Medina Spirit, this gets reversed and history gets reversed (a bit). But as I said with the Preakness it felt like the Triple Crown was over before the Preakness even went off. People just had an asterisk next to Medina Spirit's name from the get go. 

This wasn't even the first ban horse racing handed out today: 

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That's a SIGNIFICANT punishment for Linda Rice. Now we have an even bigger name in Bob Baffert involved. Remember the Belmont is June 5. We're just a couple weeks away from that. We should have an answer on the test result by then but who knows.