Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

Equine Law Expert Bob Heleringer Talks Medina Spirit Ruling On Writers’ Room

This week, 296 days after the race was run, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission ruled on the case of the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, officially disqualifying winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) and elevating Mandaloun (Into Mischief) into first place. Additionally, the KHRC suspended trainer Bob Baffert for 90 days and Baffert's legal team quickly promised appeals to an administrative law judge. Bob Heleringer, a lawyer, law professor and the author of “Equine Regulatory Law”, joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Tuesday as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss the merits of the KHRC's decision, whether Baffert horses will ultimately be able to run in this year's Derby and more.

Asked if Baffert has any argument for an appeal despite the drug overage being confirmed and against the rules, Heleringer said, “The regulatory side of this is different from the judicial side of it. The regulatory side tries to have [rules] in the starkest colors with no room for prevarication or obfuscation. They don't want these cases bogging down and getting away from the absolute part of the rule. So it's only when it moves to the judicial forum that there's a possible chance of some kind of prevarication as to why the rules should not strictly apply. And they'll base that on due process grounds, whether or not you're violating [Baffert's] rights if you take it to the absolute level that the regulatory people have. That's an argument that both of these Circuit Court judges in Frankfort will at least listen to.”

Baffert also has an interest in overturning the KHRC's suspension so that he can potentially run horses in the Derby, but he also would have to win an appeal against Churchill Downs Inc.'s two-year suspension of him, and he hasn't officially filed anything yet in that case. Heleringer was asked what Baffert's chances of racing in the Derby are.

“Right now, his chances are zero,” he said. “I'm kind of perplexed, like some other people, that he hasn't filed such a challenge yet. Maybe that's forthcoming, but it hasn't happened yet and time is dwindling. It looks like most of his owners have stayed with him, but these horses are winning significant races and not racking up any [Derby qualifying] points. Churchill Downs is resolute. So at some point, he's going to have to seek judicial intervention of some kind. It's going to get very interesting.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by Coolmore, West Point Thoroughbreds, XBTV, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers reacted to The Jockey Club backing off of its 140-mare cap, appreciated a few performances from Saturday's Fair Grounds card and discussed the implementation of Category 1 interference rules in America. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version or find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Weekly Stewards and Commissions Rulings: Feb. 15-21

Every week, the TDN publishes a roundup of key official rulings from the primary tracks within the four major racing jurisdictions of California, New York, Florida and Kentucky.

Here's a primer on how each of these jurisdictions adjudicates different offenses, what they make public (or not) and where.

California

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 02/18/2022
Licensee: Jonathan Wong, trainer
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Late declaration
Explainer: Trainer Jonathan Wong, who was scheduled to start She Said Yes in the third race at Santa Anita Park on Feb. 13, 2022, is fined $500.00 for violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1629 (Penalty for Late Declaration–didn't want to run).

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 02/19/2022
Licensee: Derek Lawson, jockey agent
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Business conduct
Explainer: Jockey Agent Derek Lawson, is fined $500.00 pursuant to California Horse Racing Board rule #1530 (Cases Not Covered by Rules and Regulations–failure to conduct business in a proper manner) on Feb. 13, 2022 at Santa Anita Park.

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 02/19/2022
Licensee: Tim McCanna, trainer
Penalty: $400 fine
Violation: Late Lasix registration
Explainer: Trainer Tim McCanna is fined $400.00 for violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1845 (Authorized Bleeder Medication–late registration) of GEA in the first race on Feb. 18, 2022, at Santa Anita Park.

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 02/19/2022
Licensee: Victor Espinoza, jockey
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Excessive use of the crop
Explainer: Jockey Victor Espinoza is fined $500.00 for violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1688(b)(8) (Use of Riding Crop–more than six times) during the seventh race at Santa Anita Park on Feb. 18, 2022.

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 02/19/2022
Licensee: Abel Cedillo, jockey
Penalty: Three-day suspension
Violation: Careless riding
Explainer: Jockey Abel Cedillo, who rode Dream Robber in the second race at Santa Anita Park on Feb. 18, 2022, is suspended for three racing days (Feb. 26, 27 & Mar. 4, 2022) for altering course without sufficient clearance shortly after the start and causing interference. This constitutes a violation of California Horse Racing Board rule #1699 (Riding Rules – Careless Riding). Pursuant to California Horse Racing Board rule #1766 (Designated Races), the term of suspension shall not prohibit participation in designated races.

Track: Santa Anita
Date: 02/20/2022
Licensee: Jose Luis Delgadillo, jockey
Penalty: N/A
Violation: N/A
Explainer: Jockey Jose Luis Delgadillo having now complied with a testing agreement with the California Horse Racing Board (submitted negative test) is deemed eligible for licensing. Ruling #92 issued on May 15, 2021, at the Los Angeles Turf Club, Inc. is hereby set aside. Further Jose Luis Delgadillo shall remain on a testing agreement as long as he is licensed in California.

New York

Track: Aqueduct
Date: 02/19/2022
Licensee: Ralph D'Alessandro
Penalty: $500 fine
Violation: Poor business practice leading to scratch
Explainer: Mr. Ralph D'Alessandro has been fined the sum of $500.00 for failing to tend to business in a proper manner necessitating a scratch in the first race at Aqueduct racetrack on Feb. 19, 2022.

Kentucky

Track: Turfway Park
Date: 02/21/2022
Licensee: Bob Baffert, trainer
Penalty: $7,500 fine and 90-day suspension
Violation: Medication violation
Explainer: Upon receipt of notification from Industrial Laboratories, the official testing laboratory for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and confirmed at University of California, Davis (Laboratory No: 210525-424136), sample number E427258 taken from Medina Spirit, who finished first in the 12th race at Churchill Downs on May 1, 2021, contained betamethasone in blood (Class C drug) (fourth medication violation in 365 days in any racing jurisdiction). After a formal hearing before the Board of Stewards Robert A. Baffert is hereby suspended 90 days, Mar. 8, 2022 through June 5, 2022 (inclusive) and fined seven thousand five hundred ($7,500) dollars. Medina Spirit is disqualified and all purse money forfeited. Pari-mutuel wagering is not affected by this ruling. During his suspension Mr. Baffert is denied the privileges of all facilities under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Entry of all horses owned or trained by Mr. Baffert is denied pending transfer to persons acceptable to the stewards. Upon receipt of this ruling, it is required within thirty (30) days to pay any and all fines imposed to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Failure to do so will subject the licensee to summary suspension of license pursuant to 810 KAR 3:020 Section 15 (cc).

Track: Turfway Park
Date: 02/21/2022
Licensee: Amr Zedan, owner
Penalty: Disqualification and purse money forfeiture
Violation: Medication violation
Explainer: Upon receipt of notification from Industrial Laboratories, the official testing laboratory for the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and confirmed at University of California, Davis (Laboratory No: 210525-424136), sample number E427258 taken from Medina Spirit, who finished first in the 12th race at Churchill Downs on May 19 2021, contained betamethasone in blood (Class C drug). Amr F. Zedan was present at a formal hearing before the Board of Stewards. MEDINA SPIRIT is disqualified and all purse money forfeited. Pari-mutuel wagering is not affected by this ruling. All purse monies must be returned to the association. The purse of this race is ordered redistributed.

This ruling is pending appeal, more about which can be read here.

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Medina Spirit DQ’ed From Derby, 90-Day Suspension for Baffert

First across the wire in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, Medina Spirit (Protonico) has been officially disqualified by the Kentucky Horse Racing (KHRC) Board of Stewards, which also handed trainer Bob Baffert a 90-day suspension and a $7,500 fine.

The news came via a short press release Monday from the KHRC, which also posted the ruling to its website.

Within a few hours of the announcement from the KHRC Churchill Downs officials issued a statement recognizing Mandaloun (Into Mischief) as the winner of the race.

“Today Churchill Downs recognizes Mandaloun as the winner of the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby and extends our congratulations to owner/breeder Juddmonte, trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux,” the statement read. “Winning the Kentucky Derby is one of the most exciting achievements in sports and we look forward to celebrating Mandaloun on a future date in a way that is fitting of this rare distinction.”

Yet, recognizing Mandaloun, who crossed the wire second–a half-length behind Medina Spirit–as the winner might be a bit premature. Medina Spirit's connections have a number of avenues in front of them to fight Monday's decision and have vowed that they will do whatever it takes to reverse the disqualification.

“This is round one and we are going to fight this thing until the end,” owner Amr Zedan said. “Bob has my full support and backing. We're going to do whatever it takes to vindicate 'Medina' and make sure he is declared the official winner of the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby. We will see this through and do whatever it takes.”

The next step in the appeal process is to go before an administrative law judge. Should that decision not go their way, the Baffert team can then try their case through the court system. No matter what moves are made, the case is likely to drag on for some time, perhaps for a few years. In the matter of 1968 Kentucky Derby starter Dancer's Image, the only other horse disqualified from the Derby due to a drug positive, it took nearly four years for the case to come to a close, with Forward Pass officially declared the race winner.

Clark Brewster, an attorney representing Baffert and Zedan, issued a lengthy statement Monday in which he expressed his confidence that at the end of the day Medina Spirit will be the official winner of the Kentucky Derby.

“We are disappointed by the Commission's ruling, but not surprised,” he said. “This ruling represents an egregious departure from both the facts and the law, but the numerous public statements by KHRC officials over the last several months have made perfectly clear that Bob Baffert's fate was decided before we ever sat down for a hearing before the three stewards, one of whom is directly employed by Churchill Downs as the racing director at Turfway Park. We will appeal, and we will prevail when the facts and rules are presented to detached, neutral decision-makers.”

Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid, after the May 1 Derby. At first, Baffert denied that Medina Spirit had ever been given the drug, but changed his story a few days later when he said that the colt was treated for a skin condition with an ointment that contained betamethasone. Lawyers representing Baffert and Zedan sent a urine sample to Dr. George Maylin, director of the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory, in an attempt to show that betamethasone was in fact in Medina Spirit's system because of the ointment and not because it had come through an injection. They said that Maylin confirmed that the drug came from the ointment, which, they argued was not a violation.

After more than nine months had gone by without any comment or updates from the KHRC, a hearing was held Feb. 14. There were no comments from the stewards Monday, but it appears they decided that it did not matter how, whether by an injection or through an ointment, the betamethasone got into Medina Spirit's system.

It was also noteworthy that Baffert was suspended for 90 days for the finding of betamethasone, which is a Class C drug. Kentucky rules call for a suspension ranging from zero to 10 days for Class C drugs. However, the official ruling notes that the Medina Spirit positive was Baffert's fourth medication violation over a span of 365 days, which is why the penalty was increased to 90 days.

As things now stand, Mandaloun is the Derby winner, giving trainer Brad Cox his first Derby win.

“Honestly, I have no real feeling or emotion,” Cox said. “I'm just hopeful that maybe something like pre-race testing can be done prior to the running of a race of this magnitude in the future. I'm not sure what would be so hard about figuring that out.”
Baffert's problems extend beyond Monday's ruling. He has been suspended for two years by Churchill Downs and, as things now stand, is not allowed to compete in the 2022 or 2023 runnings of the Kentucky Derby. He is also in the middle of a fight with the New York Racing Association, which is also attempting to ban him.

Medina Spirit died Dec. 6 after a workout at Santa Anita. The apparent cause of the death was a heart attack, but a necropsy did not reveal a definitive cause of death.

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KHRC Mum on Medina Spirit, Vows Future Transparency

Against the backdrop of the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby drug positive investigation dragging past the nine-month mark and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) maintaining a conspicuous silence throughout the drawn-out process, KHRC chairman Jonathan Rabinowitz obliquely referred to the scandal for the first time at an open, public meeting Tuesday.

Although Rabinowitz did not specifically mention Medina Spirit's betamethasone overage or trainer Bob Baffert's long-delayed stewards' hearing that was finally conducted Feb. 14, that controversy was almost certainly the catalyst for the chairman stating that the KHRC is seeking to change administrative regulation 810 KAR 9:010, which deals with the KHRC's hearings, reviews and appeals process.

Rabinowitz said Feb. 15 that regulation “historically precludes the commission from making public statements prior to the issuance of stewards' rulings.”

After Tuesday's meeting, TDN confirmed with the KHRC's general counsel, Jennifer Wolsing, that Rabinowitz was referring to section 1 (4) of that regulation, which states: “Stewards' and judges' hearings shall be closed, and the stewards and judges shall make no public announcement concerning a matter under investigation until the conclusion of the hearing.” (Read the full regulation here).

Rabinowitz said, “This commission is committed to transparency, as well as the best interest of the horsemen, associations, and the racing industry as a whole. As a result, we've begun the process of making significant changes to 810 KAR 9:010 in order to ensure that this commission remains an industry leader in transparent government. It is of the utmost importance to this commission that we get this reg changed.”

Commissioner Bill Landes III was the only KHRC member to follow up on that statement with an opinion.

“Transparency and a more [public] process will allow us to become more effective commissioners in that we will be perceived [that] we care and know what the hell is going on–and that is not necessarily how we are perceived today. This is a breath of fresh air,” Landes said.

Those comments about possible future changes were preceded by a slate of actual KHRC regulation changes, all of which got voted in unanimously during Tuesday's meeting. Because they still need to go through a public notice and approval period at the state level, the following regulations are not expected to go into effect for another seven to nine months:

Allowing a horse to enter a race even when the horse is on the veterinarian's, stewards', or starter's list, provided the horse has a posted “off” date on or before the date of the

race.

Workout requirements for layoff horses: The current regulation states that a horse that has not started in the past 45 days shall not be permitted to start unless it has at least one published workout within 20 days of entry. The new regulation adds requirements for horses that have not started in the past 90 days (two published workouts during the past 90 days, one within 20 days of entry) and for 180 days (three published workouts during the 180 days, one within 20).

Mutuel Couplings: The current regulation states that horses entered in the same race and owned by the same owner shall be joined as a mutuel entry. The revision allows for some flexibility by stating that horses owned by the same owner “may” be joined as a mutuel entry.

Also, the current coupling regulation states that horses having common ties through ownership shall not start in a purse race to the exclusion of a single entity. The proposed revision expands that requirement to include horses with common ties through ownership or training.

Another current regulation states that the racing secretary may uncouple entries having common ties through training to make two separate betting interests. The revision expands that rule include horses with common ties through training or ownership. A trainer entering two horses in a race will have to indicate a preference for one of the horses.

If a coupled horse commits a foul during a race, current regulations may be interpreted to “require” the stewards to include any horses coupled with an offending horse in the penalization. The revision deletes the reference to the coupled horse. Additionally, the revision clearly states that if a horse deliberately interferes in the order of finish for the benefit of another horse with common ties through ownership or training, then both horses may be penalized.

Claiming Regulations: A licensed owner must have made a start within the last 30 days at a Kentucky track in order to be eligible to claim a horse. An authorized agent may act on behalf of an owner who meets the above criteria in order to claim a horse. A “claiming license” will be issued to someone who does not currently own a horse but wants to claim one horse only. After that one claim, the claiming license is rescinded, and the above ownership rules apply.

Also, an owner may only claim one horse from a single race. A trainer may claim as many as two horses from a single race, but only if the horses are claimed for different owners. A claimed horse shall not race outside of Kentucky for 30 days from the date of the end of the meet during which the horse was claimed. That represents a change from the current regulation, which states that a horse can race outside of Kentucky after the close of entries for closing day of the meet.

A claimed horse shall not be sold or transferred within 60 days after the day it was claimed (except via another claiming race). This is a change from the current 30-day regulation.

After the race has been run, a claimed horse shall be delivered to the test barn (or detention barn) for post-race inspection When the horse passes KHRC veterinary inspection, it will be delivered to the successful claimant. The funds for the horse will be available when the horse passes inspection and is delivered to the successful claimant.

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