Bob Baffert | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jockey Club Gets Permission to File Brief in Baffert Affair

The Jockey Club (TJC) was granted permission to file its proposed amicus brief in trainer Bob Baffert's federal lawsuit against the New York Racing Association (NYRA), but must do so within a week.

Judge Carol Bagley Amon issued the order Wednesday in the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York.

“The request for permission to file an amicus brief [14] is GRANTED in part,” the order reads. “The Jockey Club may file its proposed amicus brief. The brief must be filed no later than June 30, 2021, or it will not be considered.”

Baffert is seeking to overturn the ban imposed upon him by NYRA on May 17 after Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for Betamethasone in this year's GI Kentucky Derby.

On June 14, Baffert filed a civil complaint against NYRA, alleging that the association's ban violates his Fourteenth Amendment constitutional right to due process. He is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction ordered against NYRA to prevent his further banishment from those tracks, claiming that if that does not happen, he will suffer immediate and irreparable harm.

In a June 22 letter to the court, Susan Phillips Read, an attorney for The Jockey Club, asked for permission to file an amicus brief. She indicated in the letter that The Jockey Club may be able to provide the court information which it may not be able to obtain elsewhere, though what that information was is unclear.

TJC, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries and Thoroughbred Safety Committee, has access to information not necessarily available to the parties,” Read wrote.

An amicus brief or curiae–literally `friend of the court'–is filed by a person or party with a strong interest in the matter who is not a party to the action.

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Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners Founder Aron Wellman Joins Writers’ Room

Fresh off a Group 2 win last week at Royal Ascot, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' founder Aron Wellman joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday morning to talk about his ownership strategies, how he talks to new partners about concerns in the industry and much more.

Asked about Eclipse's ever-evolving purchasing power, Wellman, who called in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week said, “We made a point when we launched Eclipse about 10 years ago to really try to prove ourselves at being good at just about everything in terms of trying to buy horses. We believe that a good horse can come from anywhere at any time. I really cut my teeth early on in the game by starting to claim horses, because that was the immediate-action way to go. Then it evolved into trying to buy horses privately, going overseas and getting them to the States. We've been very fortunate to get support from our partners at the yearling sales as well as the 2-year-old sales and have been very lucky to buy Grade I winners and Classic winners out of them. It's tough to be really, really elite at all of those avenues by which you can acquire horses. But we've certainly done our best to provide our partners with a variety of opportunities year in and year out and the track record, fortunately, has spoken for itself that our partners continue to believe in the process.”

Wellman also commented on the challenges he faces in recruitment considering the scandal that has surrounded racing for the last few years, saying, “It's certainly a barrier to entry. It's a conversation that I have with just about every prospective partner that comes through Eclipse's doors. I think that the industry is slowly but surely making good strides towards appropriate reform. It's never enough and it's never fast enough, but on the Eclipse side, we try our best to surround ourselves with good people. We've always believed in that philosophy. I am a big proponent of the industry getting more serious about the penalties handed down to trainers who are violating the rules. We can't allow anyone, I don't care who you are, how big you are or how small you are, to operate by a different set of rules. There's no question that we need a unified, centralized governing body here in the United States to oversee the industry. For too long, we've swept issues under the rug. We've protected guys because we were concerned about the public image and guys that are too big to fail. Thinking maybe it would be worse for the industry to expose them rather than to protect them. But we've been accomplices for too long. We've aided and abetted for too long. It's really high time that we took swift and serious action.”

Elsewhere on the show, which is also sponsored by West Point Thoroughbreds, the Minnesota Racehorse Engagement Project and Legacy Bloodstock, the writers discussed a bombshell investigation of Bob Baffert in the Washington Post, talked about a possible hope for Arlington Park's survival and projected the successes and challenges of fixed-odds wagering. 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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Horseplayers Drop Owner Zedan From Medina Spirit Lawsuit

A class-action federal lawsuit filed by a group of horseplayers has voluntarily dismissed owner Amr Zedan's racing stable “without prejudice” on June 23, though trainer Bob Baffert and his racing stable remain as defendants, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on May 14, the suit claims bettors were denied winning bets on the Kentucky Derby in which Baffert trainee Medina Spirit finished first, but now is in jeopardy of being disqualified after Baffert revealed the horse failed a post-race drug test.

The suit was filed by 2012 National Horseplayers Championship winner Michael Beychok of Louisiana; Justin Wunderler of New Jersey (known on Twitter as frequent Baffert critic @SwiftHitter); Michael Meegan of New York; and Keith Mauer of California. They allege they were denied winning bets on the Kentucky Derby in amounts ranging from $100 to as much as $100,000 because of Baffert's “multiple and repeated acts of doping and entering horses into Thoroughbred races, including the Kentucky Derby” that the complaint said constitutes “racketeering activity” under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and laws of the state of California, where Baffert and his stable are based.

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

The post Horseplayers Drop Owner Zedan From Medina Spirit Lawsuit appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Baffert Vs. NYRA: The Jockey Club Asks To Weigh In On ‘Deleterious Effects Of Improper Drug Use’

Attorney Susan Phillips Read has filed a request on behalf of The Jockey Club to provide an amicus brief in the civil lawsuit filed by trainer Bob Baffert against the New York Racing Association, reports bloodhorse.com. The brief would provide Judge Carol Bagley Amon in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York “a unique perspective on issues involved in this litigation” and “supply information that should be helpful to the court and its decision-making.”

(An amicus brief is provided by a person or entity who is not a party to a case who assists a court by offering information, expertise, or insight that has a bearing on the issues in the case.)

Following the announcement that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone, and considering a spate of recent positive tests from Baffert's barn, the New York Racing Association announced last month a ban of trainer Bob Baffert from racing or stabling at any of its tracks. Baffert and his lawyer responded by filing a civil suit claiming NYRA does not have the legal authority for a suspension.

Read told bloodhorse.com that The Jockey Club's brief will stand in opposition to Baffert's efforts to be granted a temporary injunction to lift the NYRA ban.

“TJC has long believed that horses must only race when they are free from the effects of medication, and vociferously advocated for the passage of The Horseracing Safety and Integrity Act,” Read wrote in the official request to provide an amicus brief. “TJC thus has a special interest in sharing with the Court its perspective regarding the deleterious effects of improper drug use on the health of horses, the Thoroughbred racing industry, and public trust in the honesty of competition.

“Further, TJC, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries and Thoroughbred Safety Committee, has access to information not necessarily available to the parties,” Read added.