Charlatan, the dynamic Bob Baffert trainee and multiple Grade 1 winner, suffered an undisclosed setback during a recent workout and will be sidelined indefinitely.
The Daily Racing Form reported the news Thursday. They quoted a text from Sol Kumin, one of Charlatan’s owners in the multi-group consortium that owns the 4-year-old.
“Charlatan wasn’t 100 percent after his most recent breeze on May 15,†Kumin texted the DRF. “Under veterinary advice, he will get some time off and a decision on his racing career will be determined upon reevaluation (in) late June.â€
Charlatan worked out last Saturday at Churchill Downs. He clocked a 59-second five-furlong breeze that was the fastest time among 42 runners at that distance on Saturday. After the setback, the DRF reports Charlatan is now resting and recuperating at Margaux Farm in Midway, Kentucky.
Charlatan’s next start was TBD
The Speightstown colt’s next start was up in the air. Originally, Baffert targeted the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap on the June 5 Belmont Stakes undercard. That mile race with its $1 million purse and rich history was the perfect spot for Charlatan.
But the New York Racing Association closed that gate when it suspended Baffert from racing or stabling his horses at NYRA tracks. That decision came after Baffert’s five medication positives over the last year. His fifth was Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s post-Derby positive test for excessive amounts of the anti-inflammatory betamethasone.
Charlatan accounted for one of those positives. He tested positive for excessive amounts of lidocaine after winning the first division of the Arkansas Derby last May. Arkansas racing officials originally disqualified him, but Baffert successfully appealed the decision and the Arkansas Racing Commission restored his victory.
More than 86% of earnings came from the Saudi Cup
As a 4-year-old, Charlatan has one start on his resume, which resulted in his runner-up finish to Mishriff in February’s $20 million Saudi Cup. That marked his only defeat in five career starts, but accounts for $3.5 million of his $4,047,200 in career earnings in those five starts.
Before that, Charlatan came out of a seven-month layoff to blitz a strong Malibu Stakes field at Santa Anita Park on Dec. 26. He returned from that 4 1/2-length Grade 1 victory after going on the shelf in late May with an ankle injury.
Kumin’s Madaket Stables is one of seven entities with a piece of Charlatan. The ownership group includes some of the most powerful stables in racing, with stakes held by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Stonestreet Stables, Golconda Stables, Fred Hertich III, and John Fielding.
Last May, that consortium sold Charlatan’s breeding rights to Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. for an undisclosed amount.
