NYRA cleared to begin Baffert’s discipline hearings
His Derby winner failed post-race drug test
Trainer Bob Baffert’s fight to continue racing thoroughbreds in New York hit a setback Tuesday when a federal judge ruled that the New York Racing Association could proceed with administrative hearings to suspend him.
Baffert is facing discipline after he trained Medina Spirit, the thoroughbred who tested positive for drug use after placing first in the Kentucky Derby in May. One of the nation’s most successful trainers, Baffert has been cited for at least 29 failed drug tests over four decades.
Shortly after the Derby, NYRA — which operates the Saratoga Race Course, Aqueduct Racetrack and Belmont Park — barred Baffert from entering Medina Spirit in the Belmont Stakes and from racing any of his horses on their tracks.
Baffert countered by filing an action in U.S. District Court in June against NYRA, and he won a preliminary injunction because the association did not give the trainer a hearing before suspending him or immediately thereafter. That decision allowed him to keep racing in New York over the summer.
At Saratoga Race Course’s summer meet, Baffert entered six horses and had more than $390,000 in earnings, according to data from Equibase.
But now that NYRA has laid out an administrative hearing process to settle Baffert’s suspension, U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon ruled Tuesday that the association can move ahead with the process of barring him from its tracks.
NYRA is expected to hold the first administrative hearing in Baffert’s case next week. Retired judge and former New York Solicitor General Peter Sherwood will oversee the administrative case.
“We are gratified by the court’s decision allowing NYRA to move forward,” said NYRA spokesman Patrick Mckenna. “... The court found that NYRA’S actions were consistent with both the letter and spirit of the July 14 order. NYRA’S focus in this matter is protecting the integrity of the sport of thoroughbred racing in accordance with the requirements of due process.”
Baffert’s attorney, Craig Robertson, said he was disappointed in the court’s ruling against their effort to hold NYRA in contempt.
“Contempt is a difficult remedy to obtain, (but) the injunction remains in place and Mr. Baffert is still able to race in New York,” Robertson said. “We will review the court’s ruling and determine next steps.”