Jim O'Donnell: Carstanjen, Baffert going longer on Kentucky Derby battle of wills
THE IMPERIAL ATTITUDE CONTINUES to ooze out of the money-gulping halls of the burgoo kings at Churchill Downs Inc.
The decision of Bunker Bill Carstanjen to extend the ban of Bob Baffert from all CDI race tracks through the end of 2024 brought an insightful view from Ray Paulick, publisher of the top-tier daily Paulick Report (paulickreport.com).
Paulick, one of the most respected voices in the game, wrote: "(It all) involves two outsized egos: Baffert and Carstanjen. Baffert wants to protect his reputation and Carstanjen wants to protect his brand, the Kentucky Derby, which will be celebrating its 150th running in 2024, apparently with Baffert on the outside looking in."
BAFFERT'S NEXT DERBY WIN will be his seventh, an all-time record that will put him one ahead of the great Ben Jones. He briefly had that mark in 2021 when his Medina Spirit won the Run for the Roses.
But a week later, a test for a banned substance came back positive. The victory of Medina Spirit was voided. Baffert pursued assorted avenues of legal redress and all failed.
In June, 2021, Carstanjen and CDI - as a private corporation licensed to conduct state-sanctioned race meets - arbitrarily tossed Baffert for two years. That penalty was extended for 18 more months earlier this week, for no apparent reason other than the trainer's determined tries to claw back.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO, when he was winning his first Derbies with Silver Charm (1997) and Real Quiet (1998), Baffert was the breezy new "face" that thoroughbred racing needed. He even quoted Austin Powers and had a biting wit and manner that up close, reminded one Chicago-based Insouciant of prime-time Steve Dahl.
Now his freshness date appears far out of time with Carstanjen, whose racing division has wobbled through a majority of the last five Kentucky Derbies.
PERHAPS THE TWO COMBATANTS could schedule some sort of ego-galloping match race to be decided by the greater sense of self-importance.
Next spring during Derby Week, the loser has to dine nightly on microwaved Stouffer's Homestyle Humble Burgoo.
STREET-BEATIN':
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Fox Sports is generating gales of laughter from the few who care over news that FS1's "Undisputed" is on "summer hiatus" while a replacement for Shannon Sharpe is being sought. Key criteria for working alongside the waxen Skip Bayless: matching dronish manner, poorly feigned bro-dude guffaws and a capacity for avoiding nasal skid marks every time Jerry Jones makes a sudden stop. ...
Jeff Fritz was once one of Chicago's very best sports talk ad salesmen. Now the resilient grinder will be taking his two-time national champion Trojans into the Chicago 16 Inch Softball Hall of Fame at Drury Lane Theater in October. Enduring teammates include: Bill McDonald, Steve Rossdeuthcher, "Dugout Dave" Trandel and brother John Fritz. Mike "Pappy" North has not been asked to present. ...
As expected, DePaul's Max Strus went jackpot with his free agency, netting a four-year, $63M deal from the Cavaliers. Now he's also just another departed face from the ancient gallery that makes up former Bulls sent to happier places thanks to the Jerry Reinsdorf-spawned "Curse of the Breakup." ...
For those seeking historical analogy, when Britney Spears tried to beeline toward NBA phenom-in-waiting Victor Wembanyama in Las Vegas the other night, it's as if Michael Jordan had been grabbed at by Joey Heatherton during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. (And she was already arced past her hot springs Serta Mattress commercials.) ...
And Ozzie Guillen, trying very hard to speak-no-evil on NBCSCH's pitiful "White Sox Postgame Live": "If I say what I think, I lose my job."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.