Baffert Defends Appearance Fee

Trainer Bob Baffert said the decision to run Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner War Emblem in Sunday’s $1-million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park was made “independent” of the $50,000 appearance fee he is being paid by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

A story in Thursday’s Newark Star-Ledger reported that Baffert, who had vacillated last week about whether War Emblem was going to run in the Haskell or wait for Del Mar’s Pacific Classic, was being paid the fee and had also received the same $50,000 when Point Given won the Haskell last year.

“The decision to enter War Emblem in the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park was made independent of the appearance fee paid to me by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority,” Baffert said in a prepared statement released Friday. “The decision to enter the horse was made by Richard Mulhall [the racing manager for the late Prince Ahmed Bin Salman’s Thoroughbred Corporation] and me after we discussed options for the horse over several weeks.

“I am concerned that the nature of the appearance fee has been mischaracterized and that some might perceive that the fee influenced our decision to enter. Upon additional discussion with the Thoroughbred Corporation, we have decided that half of the fee will be donated to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation in memory of Prince Ahmed Bin Salman.

“Fees for public appearances and other promotional work are common in other sports. In consultation with my clients, I will continue to accept these fees in the future where warranted.”

Baffert, who is going to be married for the second time today in San Diego, is scheduled to fly to New Jersey on a private jet, then continue on with new wife Jill to Saratoga for its annual horse sales.

The trainer, who has won the Kentucky Derby three times in the last six years, is correct about appearance fees being common, but not for horse trainers. Normally, in the sport, they have gone to jockeys, making trips to places where they did not ride regularly or by increasing the purse of a given race to attract a top quality horse. In 2001, the Haskell purse was upped to $1.5 million and a crowd of nearly 50,000 was there to see Point Given win for the final time in a career cut short by injury.

Speaking to the Star-Ledger, George Zoffinger, the chief executive of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, defended the decision to reward Baffert.

“It was a business decision,” he said. “I’d do it for any trainer if they had the top horse of the year.”