Tag: hearing

NYRA: Bob Baffert’s Hearing Scheduled To Begin Jan. 24

The official hearing for Bob Baffert's potential suspension from New York Racing Association tracks will begin on Jan. 24, reports the Daily Racing Form. That date was decided during Monday's initial meeting between NYRA and Baffert's attorneys, which was presided over by O. Peter Sherwood, the retired New York State Supreme Court justice serving as a NYRA-appointed hearing officer.

NYRA issued a statement of charges against Baffert and fellow trainer Marcus Vitali on Sept. 10, and initially scheduled a hearing for Baffert to begin on Sept. 27. However, that hearing was delayed until Oct. 11 as Baffert's attorney requested additional time. Baffert was not expected to participate during Monday's meeting, because it was convened only to schedule future dates and deadlines.

NYRA had notified Baffert ahead of the Belmont Stakes that it was suspending his ability to enter horses in races or have stall space at its racetracks due to his recent history of medication violations (five over a one-year period), the conflicting statements he provided to media around the Medina Spirit scandal, and Churchill Downs' suspension of the trainer.

Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the Eastern District of New York determined that NYRA's suspension of Baffert should not have taken place without some sort of hearing allowing him to address the organization's accusations against him. Although NYRA was asserting its private property rights in the case, Amon said the organization is closely entwined enough with the state that its suspension of Baffert constituted a state action, thereby requiring due process.

The upcoming hearing process, laid out by NYRA in it's official statement on Sept. 10, is not expected to be brief. The hearing may last several days, and Sherwood is not required to issue his post-hearing report with recommendations within a specific period of time.

Once that report has been issued, a panel will review it and issue a final decision within 10 days.

Read more at the Daily Racing Form.

Here is an archive of stories about Baffert's legal battle with the New York Racing Association:

Additional stories about Baffert's Kentucky Derby positive and ensuing legal battles can be found here.

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Baffert Again Argues That NYRA Can’t Proceed With Efforts to Suspend Him

The matter of whether or not the New York Racing Association should be held in contempt and whether it can go ahead with a hearing that could lead to the suspension of Bob Baffert landed once again Friday on the desk of Judge Carol Bagley Amon.

The latest twist in the Baffert-NYRA saga began last week when Baffert's attorneys charged that NYRA should be held in contempt because of its announced plans to afford Baffert a hearing. The two sides have been at odds over the interpretation of a July 14 ruling from Amon, which blocked NYRA's plans to immediately exclude Baffert from its tracks. The Baffert team contends that Amon's ruling forbade NYRA from, at this point in time, taking any disciplinary actions against the trainer and called the proposed hearing a “sham.” NYRA has argued that it has been fully compliant with the order all along and should be permitted to go ahead with the hearing. The latest filing from NYRA read: “Plaintiff moves to hold NYRA in contempt for providing Plaintiff exactly what he argued he was entitled to in support of his motion for a preliminary injunction–notice and an opportunity to be heard.”

On Friday, Baffert's attorney Craig Robertson sent Amon a letter requesting permission for Baffert to file a Reply Memorandum that challenged NYRA's latest legal maneuver and reiterated reasons why the court should hold NYRA in contempt and issue a stay that would prevent NYRA from going forward with the hearing, now scheduled to begin Oct. 11.

The Reply Memorandum outlined the following arguments, most of which have appeared in previous court filings.

(*) NYRA should be held in contempt for violating the Injunction Order.

“The Injunction Order is clear, unambiguous, and directly prohibits NYRA from suspending Baffert,” the filing reads. “NYRA is simply inventing imagined ambiguities where they do not exist to excuse its own bad faith effort to circumvent the Injunction Order.”

(*) NYRA's new rules, procedures and charges are inconsistent with due process.

“Baffert has already defeated NYRA in court when it sought to unilaterally and unlawfully suspend him,” the filing reads. “It now seeks to do the very same thing all over again with vague and highly subjective charges. The idea that he will receive, through the retroactive application of newly created rules and procedures, a fair adjudication from a body intent on punishing him, is laughable.”

(*) NYRA should be sanctioned.

“Finally, NYRA argues that it should be excused from the consequences of its overt attempt to circumvent the Injunction Order,” the filing reads. “However, civil contempt sanctions are necessary to 'coerce future compliance and to remedy past compliance.' NYRA is a sophisticated entity with a long history of litigation. It is painfully obvious that its failure to abide by the Injunction Order is no accident. Sanctions and fees are necessary in this case to make it clear to NYRA that the Court will not tolerate its actions.”

The Baffert team again requested that its client be reimbursed for his legal fees.

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York has a hearing date set for Oct. 5 on Baffert's motion to hold NYRA in contempt and to issue a stay regarding possible suspension proceedings.

The post Baffert Again Argues That NYRA Can’t Proceed With Efforts to Suspend Him appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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NYRA: New Procedures Are ‘Exactly’ What Baffert Asked For, Hearing Pushed To Oct. 11

Last week, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert's attorneys filed a letter with U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon requesting she hold the New York Racing Association in contempt for scheduling a hearing. NYRA fired back at Baffert in court on Wednesday, reports the Thoroughbred Daily News, arguing that the new hearing procedures are exactly what the trainer argued he was entitled to when filing his lawsuit.

NYRA notified Baffert ahead of the Belmont Stakes that it was suspending his ability to enter horses in races or have stall space at its racetracks due to his recent history of medication violations (five over a one-year period), the conflicting statements he provided to media around the Medina Spirit scandal, and Churchill Downs' suspension of the trainer.

Judge Amon of the Eastern District of New York determined that NYRA's suspension of Baffert should not have taken place without some sort of hearing allowing him to address the organization's accusations against him. Although NYRA was asserting its private property rights in the case, Amon said the organization is closely entwined enough with the state that its suspension of Baffert constituted a state action, thereby requiring due process.

NYRA issued a statement of charges against Baffert and fellow trainer Marcus Vitali on Sept. 10, and scheduled a hearing for Baffert to begin on Sept. 27. However, that hearing was delayed until Oct. 11 as Baffert's attorney requested additional time. The trainer will not be participating on that date, because the first hearing will be about scheduling future dates and deadlines.

The Sept. 29 filing by NYRA reads: “Plaintiff moves to hold NYRA in contempt for providing Plaintiff exactly what he argued he was entitled to in support of his motion for a preliminary injunction–notice and an opportunity to be heard.

“Plaintiff incorrectly asserts that the Notice of Hearing, Hearing Rules and Procedures, and Statement of Charges demonstrate that, 'NYRA's conduct is simply a repackaged version of the same action already enjoined. What the Hearing Rules and Procedures and Statement of Charges actually show is a substantially different process that is now in place, which was not afforded in connection with the May 17 suspension that the Court enjoined.”

“Plaintiff's speculation that NYRA created its Hearing Rules and Procedures to target him is incorrect,” the filing continued. “The Hearing Rules and Procedures are of general applicability and are designed to afford the process this Court deemed necessary in its Order.”

Read more at the Thoroughbred Daily News.

An archive of stories about Baffe

Additional stories about Baffert's Kentucky Derby positive and ensuing legal battles can be found here.

The post NYRA: New Procedures Are ‘Exactly’ What Baffert Asked For, Hearing Pushed To Oct. 11 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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CHRB: Justify, Hoppertunity Scopolamine Hearings Set For Thursday, Oct. 29

The stewards at Santa Anita Park will conduct hearings Thursday, Oct. 29, beginning at 10 a.m. to consider two complaints filed by the California Horse Racing Board seeking the disqualifications of two horses, Justify and Hoppertunity, from their victories in races run in 2018. The complaints also seek redistributions of the purses from those races.

The CHRB will not be filing a complaint against trainer Bob Baffert, due to substantial evidence that the scopolamine positives resulted from environmental contamination from jimson weed.

The hearing for disqualification is a condition of a settlement agreement between the CHRB and Ruis Racing LLC, the owner of Bolt d'Oro, the horse that finished second behind Justify in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 7, 2018. In that matter, the CHRB is represented by counsel from the Office of the California Attorney General.

In addition, the CHRB is seeking the disqualification of Hoppertunity, winner of the Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita on April 8, 2018, and the redistribution of that purse based on laboratory findings that his post-race sample for that race tested positive for scopolamine. While not the subject of current litigation, this medication positive was similar to the one involving Justify. Baffert trained both horses.

Due to COVID-19, all witnesses are expected to testify remotely. The public will not be allowed to attend the hearings in person but can hear and view the proceedings through the following link: http://www.chrb.ca.gov/Live.html

Clicking the link will bring up a “Register” screen asking for the guest's name and e-mail address. A confirmation link granting both audio and visual access to the hearings will be sent to the e-mail address provided. Registration will begin at 9:45 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

The two hearings will be conducted concurrently. Depending on the number of witnesses testifying and presenting evidence, the hearings could last more than one day. The stewards likely will issue their decisions at some later date.

The post CHRB: Justify, Hoppertunity Scopolamine Hearings Set For Thursday, Oct. 29 appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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