'I'M A SCAPEGOAT:' Suspended Derby trainer fires back at Churchill Downs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. fired back at the decision of Churchill Downs to suspend him after the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission scratched one of his colts, Lord Miles, from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
The KHRC also prohibited Joseph from entering other horses in races in the state until more can be learned about the sudden deaths of two of his horses after recent races at Churchill Downs. Hours after the KHRC decision, Churchill announced that it had suspended Joseph from races at all of its properties indefinitely.
Joseph, who said that state and track regulators had searched his barn and found nothing of concern, says the track is “using its power,” to direct attention toward him and away from other issues. In the past week, 5 horses have died at Churchill Downs, from a variety of causes.
“Most definitely I am a scapegoat,” Joseph said. “I'm the scapegoat. They've had more deaths this week, and here is Saffie, this is the problem. Trust me, it's hard enough that our horses have their issues. But the reality of it is that I run 3,800 horses in the races, and I've never had horses that die from that issue before. They've had injuries but never from something that was unknown. It's unknown what caused it. The tests for the first one hasn't shown anything. I mean, the results with all the bloods, we haven't seen anything, so we don't know what's going on. They don't know what's going on. And the commission doesn’t know what's going on. The commission has found nothing wrong so far. I mean, people all can attest, and here we are with no known answers. and yet Churchill issues this suspension. It's like, how could you do that? I mean, how can you do that? It's one reason -- they've done it to try to save their image. I mean, it's sad.”
Joseph is based in Florida out of Gulfstream Park, but has seen his stable expand over the past several years and frequently drops in for stakes races around the country. Lord Miles was listed at 30-1 in the morning line but was 41-1 after early on-track betting on Thursday. He won the Wood Memorial to punch his Derby ticket last month.
In announcing its suspension, Churchill cited uncertainty over the cause of death of Joseph’s horses.
On Saturday night, Joseph’s Parents Pride collapsed and died after being pulled up in the eighth race. On Tuesday, his Chasing Artie collapsed and died after coming back toward the winner’s circle to be unsaddled following a flat effort.
Joseph said that no reason for the deaths has yet been discovered.
“Given the unexplained sudden deaths, we have reasonable concerns about the condition of his horses, and decided to suspend him indefinitely until details are analyzed and understood,” Bill Mudd, President and Chief Operating Officer of CDI, said in a statement. “The safety of our equine and human athletes and integrity of our sport is our highest priority. We feel these measures are our duty and responsibility.”
But Joseph said that the track is focusing on him when it has other issues. Three other horses have died at the track in the past week, including a Derby qualifier, Wild on Ice, who was euthanized after sustaining an injury in his left hind leg following training last Thursday. A D. Wayne Lukas-trained filly also was euthanized Saturday after flipping multiple times following a spill in a turf race. An other horse flipped in the paddock multiple times, according to The Daily Racing Form, and had to be euthanized after sustaining a broken neck.
Churchill’s move is not unlike the action it took against Bob Baffert when his 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive for a substance banned on racedays in Kentucky. Baffert is again absent from the Kentucky Derby this year after a legal challenge to Churchill’s ban was rejected by a federal judge in Louisville.
Joseph said he’s being singled out.
“There's been other horses also this week and I mean, Churchill was trying to throw the burden on me for something when they have a lot more other problems,” Joseph said. “. . . They made a decision without a reason or without any facts and proof, and tried to tarnish me, basically, and that’s the sad part of all this. The most sad part is the horses, but then to try to twist it around and say, ‘This is all Saffie’s fault.’ What happened to all the other ones?”
Joseph had six horses besides Lord Miles scheduled to run on Oaks and Derby days at Churchill. Instead, he said he’d return them to other facilities and move forward.
“We're going to get the horses back to their locations and go from there,” he said. “Obviously, we want to get to the bottom of what the horses were that passed away. That's important for us. We're doing everything to see any solutions to come up with. There's a lot of things could have happened. People could have tampered. Anything could have happened. We could have found something that was contaminated as far as things, but we're testing everything, feed, hay, straw, supplements, everything. So far, because some of the tests have come back, nothing has been found. Our duty is to take care of the horses and we will continue to see if we can find any reason for it. Sometimes you may never get an answer with those kinds of issues. They happen so often, and we never got answers for them. So, we don't know.”
Joseph did reiterate that of more than 3,800 horses he says he has raced, he has not encountered any that simply collapsed and died like the two he had in recent days.
“I’ve had injuries,” he said, “but I’ve never had this kind of unknown death. . . . It’s not a good thing. But in all, the truth will prevail.”
