Bob Baffert set for Churchill Downs return with first runner since 2021 after long suspension

For the first time since the spring of 2021, when he began serving what was ultimately more than a three-year suspension by the track operator, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert is set to have a runner at Churchill Downs.

Barnes, a $3.2 million (£2.53m/€3.04m) purchase by Amr Zedan, makes his debut on next Wednesday's card in a five-and-a-half-furlong juvenile maiden worth $120,000.

The same owner-trainer combination raced Medina Spirit, who was first past the post in the 2021 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, only to be eventually disqualified after post-race test results showed the presence in his system of betamethasone, a prohibited corticosteroid on raceday in Kentucky.

For that infraction and other equine medication violations in previous years, Churchill Downs Inc suspended Baffert from running horses at its tracks, in addition to a 90-day suspension applied across the country by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which also fined him $7,500.

Unsuccessful legal challenges contested these suspensions, and when a lawsuit filed by Zedan Racing Stables was dismissed over the summer, CDI rescinded its suspension.

Barnes is named after Baffert's longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, who often travels with the stable's top horses when they are shipped away from the trainer's southern California base.

Barnes, unnamed at the time of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager three weeks ago, closed as the 39-1 ninth betting choice in the field of 40.

According to Churchill Downs publicity, Barnes is scheduled to arrive on track on Thursday along with stablemate Nooni. The latter is nominated for the $225,000 Fern Creek Stakes, a six-and-a-half-furlong dirt stakes race at Churchill Downs for two-year-old fillies on November 30.

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