Churchill Downs Inc. filed a late-night response in United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky) to trainer Bob Baffert's latest lawsuit attempting to gain entrance into the 2022 Kentucky Derby, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.
Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate issued a ruling on March 21 siding with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and denying Baffert's bid to overturn the commission's refusal to issue a stay of his suspension, and Baffert has since filed with the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
CDI argued that allowing Baffert to enter runners in this year's Kentucky Derby would not only harm the reputation of Churchill Downs and the Run for the Roses, it would prevent the owners and trainers of other horses which have earned points from entering the race.
“This lawsuit is Bob Baffert's latest attempt to evade responsibility for his wrongdoing,” reads the filing.
“Baffert could have filed this lawsuit ten months ago,” the filing continued. “Instead, his lawyers spent the time working the press and trying without success to persuade other courts and tribunals of Baffert's innocence. They only came to this Court after all their other gambits and legal maneuvers failed.
“They are now rushing into this Court with the 2022 Derby just over a month away, demanding an expedited preliminary injunction on the basis of a manufactured emergency in hopes of litigating Baffert's way into the race.”
A trio of Kentucky Derby hopefuls were also transferred from Baffert to his former assistant Tim Yakteen last week: Messier, Doppelganger, and McLaren Vale. A fourth, Blackadder, was transferred to Rodolphe Brisset.
Baffert-trained horses have been ineligible to earn points on either the Road to the Kentucky Derby or the Road to the Kentucky Oaks owing to Churchill Downs' two-year suspension of the Hall of Fame trainer from its properties. The suspension stems from a medication violation involving his 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who was officially disqualified from that win on Feb. 21, 2022.
Baffert was also handed a 90-day suspension by the KHRC as a result of the disqualification of Medina Spirit, which the trainer could begin serving on April 4, according to Judge Wingate's March 21 ruling. The 90-day suspension would be reciprocated by other states, and per California regulation, could require Baffert to remove his signage and equipment from his barns at his home base at Santa Anita Park and send horses to be conditioned by someone other than his assistant training staff.
Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.
The post Churchill Calls Baffert Lawsuit Trainer’s ‘Latest Attempt To Evade Responsibility For His Wrongdoing’ appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
