Judge nullifies Baffert’s New York suspension

Trainer Bob Baffert scored his first legal victory in the wake of the positive medication test of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit on Wednesday when a New York federal judge said it was unconstitutional for the New York Racing Association to ban him from running horses in that state.

Brooklyn Judge Carol Bagley Amon said that NYRA acted improperly by suspending Baffert without holding a hearing “let alone a prompt one.”

Medina Spirit’s positive test for betamethasone, a legal anti-inflammatory except on race day, prompted Churchill Downs to ban the seven-time Kentucky Derby winner from running at its track for two years. After Medina Spirit finished third in the Preakness Stakes and was not expected to run in the Belmont Stakes, NYRA announced the temporary ban with no time frame associated with it.

New York’s prestigious meet at Saratoga starts Thursday and Baffert has had at least one owner move their horse from his barn because he could not race at that track.

Baffert’s ban from Churchill Downs has not yet been challenged. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has not announced the positive or given Baffert a hearing over the Medina Spirit drug positive, which could lead to the horse’s disqualification. The samples are undergoing further testing.

It is Baffert’s contention that Medina Spirit was administered the drug in an ointment to treat a skin rash on the horse’s hind quarter. When the case is filed and heard in Kentucky, it will likely be argued that the rule that prohibits betamethasone on race day is only applicable when administered in an inter-articular manner.