'Bobby's Secret Horsey Stuff': Bourbon label pokes fun at Bob Baffert for horses' failed drug tests

Hall of Fame horse racing trainer Bob Baffert is featured on a label created by the Louisville Bourbon Club for a limited edition bottle of Pinhook.

Unlike collector's bottles of Maker's Mark commemorating Baffert's Triple Crown win with Justify in 2018, however, "Bobby's Secret Horsey Stuff" highlights the trainer's blunders.

The limited edition bourbon is not for sale at stores.

Baffert, who was hit with suspensions from both Churchill Downs and the New York Racing Association after a failed drug test by disqualified 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, is depicted on the label holding a syringe.

In a play on "Mike's Secret Stuff" from the 1996 movie "Space Jam," Baffert is looking at a water bottle in his other hand that is labeled, "Bobby's Secret Horsey Stuff."

A closer look reveals that the water bottle he is holding is 115.3 proof bourbon, a "new and improved makeumgofast formula." Next to Baffert, a quote reads, "Just let Ol' Uncle Bobby blend ya up a batch of that good-good stuff."

According to the bottle label, the Louisville Bourbon Club collaborated on "Bobby's Secret Horsey Stuff" with Cox's & Evergreen Liquors, a Louisville-based chain with more than two-dozen locations around the area.

The small-batch bourbon itself was made by Pinhook at Castle & Key Distillery in Frankfort.

Baffert, 69, has trained six Kentucky Derby winners. Two of those horses, American Pharaoh and Justify, went on to claim the Triple Crown.

The Courier Journal sent a photo of the label to Baffert's attorney but had not received a comment as of Wednesday afternoon.

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Medina Spirit testing positive for betamethasone, a steroid banned on race day, in 2021 marked the fifth positive test in Baffert's barn over a 12-month span and the 31st of his career, according to a tally by The Courier Journal.

The horse died Dec. 6, after suffering a heart attack upon finishing a workout at Santa Anita Park.

In the wake of the positive test, Churchill Downs issued a two-year suspension that began April 4, after Baffert challenged the ban multiple times in court. An NYRA panel in June upheld its one-year suspension, which ends Jan. 25, 2023.

Those suspensions didn't stop Baffert from making his presence felt at the 2022 Kentucky Derby. In March, he moved four of his top 3-year-olds to new trainers in order to give them a chance to qualify for the Run for the Roses.

One of those horses, Messier, made the cut and finished 15th.

Reach recruiting and trending sports reporter Brooks Holton at bholton@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @brooksHolton.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Bourbon label makes fun of Bob Baffert for horses failing drug tests