By Bloodhorse.com
ARCADIA, Calif. (June 30, 2017) –After finishing up some turnout time at Taylor Made Farm in Kentucky, California-bred grade 1 winner Masochistic will be transferred to the barn of trainer Bob Baffert, co-owner Will Shamlian said June 30.
The 7-year-old Sought After gelding has raced twice in 2017 for trainer Ron Ellis—a second-place run in the Triple Bend Stakes (G1) and a 13th-place finish in the Churchill Downs Stakes Presented by Twinspires.com (G2)—following his disqualification from second to seventh in the 2016 TwinSpires Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) because of a positive test for the anabolic steroid stanozolol.
Masochistic will join a star-studded older-horse lineup with Baffert. Shamlian said what happened during and after the Breeders’ Cup Sprint did not have an impact on the decision. In the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, Masochistic reached the wire second, 1 1/4 lengths behind Baffert-trained Drefong.
“I got together with (co-owner Samantha Siegel of Jay Em Ess Stable) and we decided it was in the horse’s best interest,” said Shamlian, who races as Los Pollos Hermanos Racing. “We just weren’t seeing eye-to-eye with Ron at the end. No hard feelings. I like Ron a lot. It’s just a situational thing. … The (Breeders’ Cup) hurts, but it has nothing to do with it. I don’t hold it against him and I think Ron got a raw deal with that.”
After his early years of training with A.C. Avila, Ellis took over training. Ellis, who won the third race Friday at Santa Anita Park with Siegel’s Pleasant as Pie, won four races with Masochistic from 10 starts, including graded scores in the Kona Gold Stakes (G2) and Triple Bend in 2015, and the Pat O’Brien Stakes (G2) in 2016.
“I really don’t know,” Ellis said. “(Shamlian) just wasn’t happy with the way I did things. I thought I did pretty well with the horse.”
Shamlian said Masochistic will be at Taylor Made for “a few more months probably” before he returns to training in Southern California.
“He needed some (rest and relaxation) after his last race. He’s been in training for a long time,” Shamlian said. “We sent him to Rood & Riddle (Equine Hospital) and had Dr. (Larry) Bramlage go over him with a fine-toothed comb. He said he needs about 60 days of rest, but he’s going to be there for a few more months probably. We’ll give him more than 60 days and then he’ll come back to Baffert.”
Baffert was not available for comment Friday afternoon.