Baffert Attacks ‘Tinfoil Conspiratorial Premise’ of Class-Action Suit

Trainer Bob Baffert told a federal judge Wednesday that a group of bettors who are suing him in a class-action lawsuit alleging a years-long pattern of racketeering based on his purported “doping” of Thoroughbreds have twisted their case so far from reality that their alleged misstatements amount to libel.

In a Jan. 12 filing in United States District Court (District of New Jersey), Baffert stated that the plaintiffs' recent attempt to portray him as the “Lance Armstrong of the horse racing world” is a “desperate conglomeration of highly inflammatory statements…designed to create a smokescreen in an effort to get the Court to take its eye off the ball. This Court should not be distracted.”

Baffert continued: “No matter how much outrageousness Plaintiffs throw on the wall in the hopes that something will stick, they cannot avoid three fundamental black letter law principles that mandate dismissal of their Amended Complaint.

“First, this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over the Defendants. Second, as disgruntled gamblers, Plaintiffs' have no standing and fail to present a justiciable claim. Finally, each and every court that has considered Civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) claims in the context of gambling losses has rejected those claims as a matter of law…

“Plaintiffs purposefully misrepresent Baffert's Hall of Fame record and make numerous libelous Statements,” Wednesday's filing alleged.

The original version of the suit, led by Michael Beychok, the winner of the 2012 National Horseplayers Championship, was filed four days after Baffert's disclosure that now-deceased Medina Spirit had tested positive for betamethasone after winning the May 1, 2021, Derby. Baffert, plus his incorporated racing stable, are the defendants.

Split-sample testing at two different labs approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) has since confirmed the betamethasone overage. But even after eight months, no KHRC ruling has yet been issued over those findings. On Dec. 6, Medina Spirit collapsed and died after a workout at Santa Anita Park, and his sudden death is under investigation in that state.

The class members of the suit have alleged that they were “cheated out of their property” because they placed wagers on other horses and betting combinations that would have paid off had “the drugged horse” not won the Derby.

The plaintiffs have chosen the RICO Act as a tool to try and collect damages. In addition, they seek an order from the judge stating that Baffert must divest himself from the sport.

RICO is a sweeping and powerful 1970 federal statute initially designed to combat the Mafia. But in a legal sense, it has long since lost its “organized crime” stigma. Despite the statute's original intent, RICO today is only rarely used to go after stereotypical “godfather” figures. Instead, RICO has evolved as a key component in civil litigation, and is most often asserted by purported victims of white-collar crimes, such as mail and wire fraud.

The class-action complaint was subsequently amended and moved from California to a New Jersey federal court. In previous court documents, the plaintiffs explained that New Jersey should be the proper venue. They cited a legal precedent that involved a case in which the act of simulcasting a race into New Jersey from another state “permits the Court to exercise personal jurisdiction over it.” They also alleged that Baffert's purported fraud included his occasional starts at Monmouth Park.

Back in September, when Baffert first moved for dismissal of the suit, his court filing termed that switch from California to New Jersey “blatant forum shopping” because the new venue has “no meaningful connection to the allegations raised in their Complaint. The Defendants are all domiciled in California and the events detailed in the Complaint occurred entirely in either California or Kentucky.”

In the Jan. 12 filing, Baffert's legal team again asserted that the plaintiffs are off base in attempting to litigate the matter in New Jersey.

“The law is clear that there must be case-specific contacts with the forum state,” the filing stated. “That is not established by Baffert's rare and irrelevant New Jersey racing activities. Even if one were to accept Plaintiffs' tinfoil conspiratorial premise that Baffert engaged in a nationwide racketeering scheme to defraud individuals he never met, Plaintiffs would still have to establish that at least some of the alleged illicit conduct actually occurred in New Jersey. They have utterly failed to do so. This matter has zero connection to New Jersey and it must be dismissed.”

Baffert wants the suit thrown out “with prejudice,” which would mean that it can't be brought up again in another form or in a different court.

“Plaintiffs' Amended Complaint should also be dismissed because their claims are not justiciable,” Wednesday's filing stated. “As the Baffert Defendants have explained, there is no current case and controversy because 1) the entirety of Plaintiffs' claims rest on a speculative presupposition that Medina Spirit will be disqualified at some future date potentially years from now; and 2) their exact alleged injury is not recognized as a viable cause of action under both statutory and common law.

“Plaintiffs' state-law claims are equally doomed,” the filing stated. “Plaintiffs' fraud claims are not pleaded with particularity and they have not alleged, nor could they, that the Baffert Defendants intended to defraud them as gamblers and induce their reliance.”

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Class-Action Bettors Urge Judge Not to Dismiss Derby Suit Against Baffert

Alleging that trainer Bob Baffert “is the Lance Armstrong of the horse racing world” because of a purported years-long pattern of racketeering activity related to the alleged “doping” of Thoroughbreds, a group of horse bettors who brought a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for damages over the result of the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby urged a federal judge Wednesday not to grant Baffert's motion to dismiss the case.

The original version of the suit, led by Michael Beychok, the winner of the 2012 National Horseplayers Championship, was filed four days after Baffert's disclosure that now-deceased Medina Spirit (Protonico) had tested positive for betamethasone after winning the May 1 Derby.

Split-sample testing at two different labs approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) has since confirmed the betamethasone overage, but no (KHRC) ruling has yet been issued over those findings.

The plaintiffs and class members of the suit have alleged that they “have been cheated out of their property” because they placed wagers on other horses and betting combinations that would have paid off had “the drugged horse” not won the Derby.

“The Plaintiffs here are not asking this Court to determine the outcome of the Kentucky Derby,” Beychok, et al, argued in the Dec. 29 filing in United States District Court (District of New Jersey).

“The stewards of the subject race will be the ones to determine the outcome of the Kentucky Derby. Regardless of the stewards' determination, Defendants have still harmed the Plaintiffs and will continue to harm individuals through Baffert's racketeering scheme. The Court is being asked to hold the Defendants accountable for the racketeering enterprise,” the filing stated.

In addition to asking the court to consider the Derby's potential pari-mutuel payouts as an assessment of damages, the plaintiffs, among other demands, are also seeking an order from the judge stating that the Hall of Fame trainer must divest himself from the sport. Baffert, plus his incorporated racing stable, remain as the only defendants after Medina Spirit's owner, Amr Zedan, was dropped from the suit by the plaintiffs back on June 23.

When Baffert asked the court to dismiss the suit Sept. 1, his filing stated that the plaintiffs “are a group of disgruntled gamblers who placed bets on the 2021 Kentucky Derby and lost.”

Baffert's argument stated that the bettors “attempt to do what courts across the country have routinely rejected: they seek to recoup their gambling losses through a myriad of frivolous claims. No matter how creatively the Plaintiffs attempt to craft their pleadings, they cannot escape the fact that every single court which has looked at gambling losses associated with sporting events has held that no claim can be maintained as a matter of law.”

The class action members begged to differ in Wednesday's filing.

“[Baffert] would have the Court believe that there is no injury because Medina Spirit has yet to be disqualified. The disqualification of Medina Spirit is inconsequential to Plaintiffs' causes of action. The [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] violations occurred regardless of Medina Spirit being disqualified. As alleged, Baffert entered Medina Spirit illegally [and] the Baffert enterprise has already successfully harmed Plaintiffs. Once again, Baffert has profited while the Plaintiffs have been robbed of their day at the track.”

The Dec. 29 filing continued: “Plaintiffs have stated causes of action that do not rely upon the horse racing regulations but instead are independent claims existing under federal and state statutory law and state common law. These claims are allowed whether they are allowed under the regulations or not. Defendants argue that Plaintiffs were obligated to follow the rules but side-step any obligation of Baffert's accountability.

“Baffert suggests to the Plaintiffs that if they don't like the rules they don't have to bet. But more to the point, if Baffert doesn't want to be held accountable under the laws set forth by the federal and state legislatures, then he shouldn't conduct an illegal enterprise of racketeering and fraud,” the filing stated.

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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.

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Zedan Dropped From Class-Action Horseplayers’ Lawsuit

Zedan Racing Stables, Inc., the owner of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico), has been voluntary dismissed from a class-action federal lawsuit initiated by a group of horseplayers who want to collect damages from a purported years-long pattern of racketeering activity related to the alleged “doping” of Thoroughbreds by trainer Bob Baffert.

Zedan Racing's founder is Amr Zedan. The dismissal “without prejudice” was filed by the plaintiffs June 23.

Baffert, plus his incorporated racing stable, now remain as the only defendants in the suit, which was filed May 13 in United States District Court (Central District of California). Baffert has not yet responded in court to the complaint.

The suit, led by Michael Beychok, the winner of the 2012 National Horseplayers Championship, was filed four days after Baffert's disclosure that Medina Spirit had tested positive for betamethasone after winning the Derby.

Baffert's revelation was later confirmed by split-sample testing at two different labs approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, but no ruling has yet been issued over those findings.

The betamethasone finding in the Derby was the fifth positive test in a Baffert trainee for a regulated but prohibited race-day drug within the past year (two others were for lidocaine, one was for dextrorphan, and another also for betamethasone). It was the third during that time frame to occur in a Grade I stakes.

Simultaneously, Baffert has been embroiled in a long and complicated court and racing commission battle in California over whether to disqualify 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify from that year's GI Santa Anita Derby because of a scopolamine finding.

Back in 2013, after a cluster of seven sudden horse deaths in Baffert's Hollywood Park barn, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) issued a report that stated that although “the blanket prescribing of thyroxine to all horses in Baffert's barn does appear unusual” the fatalities remained “unexplained [and] there is no evidence whatsoever CHRB rules or regulations have been violated or any illicit activity played a part.”

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