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Letter To The Editor: Let Baffert Race While Due Process Plays Out

I would respectfully disagree with Arthur Gray's assumption (in his letter to the editor concerning the New York Racing Association's right of exclusion of trainer Bob Baffert) that it is up to the racing gods to set the court on the right path.

Most racing jurisdictions have a state appointed racing commission which is authorized to issue a license to participate to all individuals, tracks and other entities that are involved with legalized racing. As long as a trainer holds a valid license in a particular jurisdiction, I find it unfair for a track to deny a racing entry of a qualified horse.

I may be mistaken, but I believe that in Louisiana (a jurisdiction in which I have been involved in racing for some 50+ years) an entry must be accepted if a trainer is licensed and a horse fits the conditions of the race. I also see this as a policy that can be easy abused by racing secretaries as they not only write the conditions of the race but could select the entries.

Until Mr. Baffert is issued a ruling (concerning Medina Spirit's positive test from the Kentucky Derby), he should be allowed to race in any jurisdiction where he holds a license that was issued by that jurisdiction. If and when he is issued a ruling, then the individual jurisdictions can decide if they will honor that ruling.

I do acknowledge a track's right to select those trainers that are granted stalls for a particular meet.

I am not an “integrity consultant” nor have I ever worked with one, but I did practice veterinary medicine on various racetracks for some 30+ years and am past Equine Medical Director for the Louisiana State Racing Commission.

I do believe in due process and until that is granted to Mr Baffert (or any other trainer), let them race.

– Tom V David, DVM

If you would like to submit a letter to the editor, please write to info at paulickreport.com and include contact information where you may be reached if editorial staff have any questions.

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

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Judge Delays Ruling in Baffert-NYRA Case

BROOKLYN–After an-hour-and-forty minute hearing Monday in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, in which lawyers representing Bob Baffert argued for a preliminary injunction that would allow the trainer to once again race at the New York Racing Association tracks, Judge Carol Bagley Amon did not render a decision and did not give a time frame for doing so.

The hearing came on the heels of a May 17 announcement from NYRA in which the racing organization said Baffert had been temporarily suspended, which meant he could not stable at the New York tracks or race there. The decision came shortly after Baffert announced that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission had informed him that Medina Spirit (Protonico) had tested positive for Betamethasone following his win in the GI Kentucky Derby. Baffert's legal team has argued that the NYRA ban is causing him irreparable harm for a number of reasons, among them the fact that he currently cannot race at Saratoga, one of the premier meets in the sport. Saratoga opens Thursday, July 15.

While much of the discussion among the lawyers and the judge rehashed details already made public, there was at least one new development. To date, NYRA has not given Baffert a hearing. Its lawyer, Henry Greenberg, revealed that after an Aug. 11 board meeting, NYRA will announce the length and terms of Baffert's suspension. Baffert will not be allowed to testify at the board meeting, but will be given the opportunity to be heard if he decides to appeal should NYRA go forward with its suspension.

Baffert's lawyer, Craig Robertson said his client is hoping to run at least three horses in Saratoga, Gamine (Into Mischief) in the GI Ketel One Ballerina Aug. 28, Illumination (Medaglia d'Oro) in the GI Longines Test S. August 7 and Fenway (Into Mischief) in an unspecified race. He has also seen a handful of owners, among them WinStar Farm, take horses eligible for major races in Saratoga away from him.

Flanked by three lawyers, Baffert appeared in court, but was not called on to testify.

Among the Baffert team, Robertson was clearly in charge and pounded away at what have become common themes from the trainer's defense. Robertson argued that, by issuing a suspension without affording Baffert a hearing, NYRA had deprived him of his due process rights. He also alleged that, in the case of Baffert, NYRA does not have the legal right to exclude the trainer.

“NYRA jumped the gun and decided to be judge, jury and executioner and suspend him,” Robertson said. “It was a case of fire, ready, aim. They acted outside of their authority and they violated his constitutional right to due process. He has a trainer's license issued by the New York Gaming Commission and that is a constitutionally protected property interest which cannot be taken away without due process. And there has been zero due process.”

While Judge Amon was careful not to tip her hand, she did pepper Greenberg with questions about NYRA's failure to give Baffert a hearing. Greenberg said one of the reasons NYRA did not do so was because Baffert never asked for one.

“He has to ask for one?” she asked incredulously.

Noting the importance of the Saratoga meet and the number of important stakes races run there, Robertson said that Baffert would be subject to irreparable harm if not allowed to race there.

“The opportunity to participate [at Saratoga] is vitally important. “Saratoga is the premier race meet in the country. Saratoga is the crown jewel, and has 43 graded stakes races. These races come around only once a year and if he is denied the opportunity to participate in them, he cannot get back that opportunity. That is irreparable harm.”

Greenberg zeroed in on integrity issues and a need for NYRA to suspend someone who had not only the Derby positive but four others within the course of a year. He said Baffert has smeared some of the biggest events in the sport, mentioning not only Medina Spirit in the Derby, but another Betamethasone positive, with Gamine in the GI Kentucky Oaks.

“There's never been anyone else who has managed to smear the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks and has had five violations within the span of a year,” Greenberg said. “That's what NYRA was presented with…He continues to race and all the while, the reputation of the sport suffers.”

Greenberg also attacked the way Baffert handled the dispute in its earliest days, which included an impromptu press conference at Churchill Downs and several media appearances in which he first maintained that Medina Spirit was never given Betamethasone. He later reversed course and said it likely got into the horse's system because it was an ingredient in an ointment used to deal with a skin problem.

“He never accepted responsibility or said he was sorry,” Greenberg said. “In a 14-minute interview, he attacked regulators, their integrity and their credibility and he said the horse was never given Betamesthasone.”

Greenberg also attacked Baffert's clumsy assertion that the Medina Spirit positive and the ensuing uproar was a matter of “cancel culture.”

Baffert, Robertson and Greenberg all declined to comment afterward. So did NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke, who was in attendance along with a cadre of NYRA officials.

The post Judge Delays Ruling in Baffert-NYRA Case appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Judge Delays Ruling On Baffert’s Lawsuit Against NYRA

Judge Carol Bagley Amon declined to render a verdict during Monday's hearing in trainer Bob Baffert's civil case against the New York Racing Association, according to bloodhorse.com. Instead, the U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York judge plans to consider attorney statements from both sides before issuing her ruling at a later, unspecified date.

Baffert filed suit against NYRA on June 14, nearly a month after the racing association notified the Hall of Fame trainer that he was temporarily banned from racing or stabling at NYRA tracks while the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission conducts its investigation into the post-race drug positive for Baffert-trained Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first in the May 1 Kentucky Derby. Baffert is seeking a temporary and permanent injunction against the ban.

As defendant in the case, NYRA filed a memorandum of law on June 30 in opposition to Baffert's motion for preliminary injunction. The Jockey Club filed a brief on that same date as amicus curiae, or friend of the court, claiming that its role as keeper of the Stud Book gives it a “unique interest in ensuring that when Thoroughbreds enter the breeding shed (where they determine the future of the breed through progeny), they do so with records uninfluenced by the effects of medication.”

On July 7, attorneys for Baffert filed their own memorandum of law, which consisted of 434 pages and included an affidavit from the trainer. In the memo, Baffert's attorneys allege that NYRA has “vindictively” targeted the trainer utilizing “hypocrisy” and “backdoor” tactics. The filing also zeroes in on two legal arguments: that the ban violates the trainer's right to due process, and that NYRA has no authority to issue a ban.

NYRA Releases Aqueduct’s Fall Stakes Schedule Worth $4.9 Million

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 18-day fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack that will include 26 total stakes, including 10 graded contests, which will run from Friday, November 5 through Sunday, December 5.

Offering total stakes purses of $4.9 million, the fall meet will be highlighted by a four graded-stakes card on Saturday, December 4, headlined by the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap for 3-year-olds and up.

The stacked Cigar Mile undercard will also include the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen for juveniles going 1 1/8 miles with 10-4-2-1 qualifying points to the 2022 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on the line. Its counterpart for 2-year-old fillies, the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle, will offer 10-4-2-1 points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Also on tap for the December 4 card is the Grade 3, $250,000 Go For Wand Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up competing at one mile.

The Big A fall meet stakes action begins on Opening Day, November 5, with the $150,000 Tempted for juvenile fillies going one mile and the $100,000 Atlantic Beach for 2-year-olds at six furlongs on the turf. Opening weekend at the Big A continues on Saturday, November 6, with the Grade 3, $150,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles and the $100,000 Stewart Manor for juvenile fillies at six furlongs on the grass. The Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua will bookend the Opening Weekend stakes offerings.

Following the $150,000 Artie Schiller and $150,000 Winter Memories on November 13-14, the Grade 2, $200,000 Red Smith highlights a strong weekend on November 20-21, which will include the $100,000 Key Cents and $100,000 Notebook on Sunday, November 21.

Thanksgiving weekend will offer ten stakes over three days beginning Friday, November 26 with the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles; the $150,000 Gio Ponti for sophomores at 1 1/16 miles on the turf; and the $150,000 Forever Together for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

Four stakes will be contested on Saturday, November 21 including the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in a marathon 1 1/2 miles on the turf; the $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs; the $150,000 Discovery for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the main track; and the $100,000 Central Park for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Thanksgiving weekend racing at the Big A will close with three stakes on Sunday, November 28, including the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight Handicap for 3-years-olds and up at six furlongs; the $150,000 Autumn Days for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at six furlongs on the turf; and the $100,000 Tepin for juvenile fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

The Big A fall meet will conclude on Sunday, December 5 with a pair of $150,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series races going seven furlongs on the main track, with the Thunder Rumble for 3-year-olds and up and the Staten Island for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up.

The Aqueduct winter meet will commence on Thursday, December 9, with seven stakes carded through the end of the calendar year. The first stakes of the winter meet will be the $100,000 Garland of Roses for fillies and mares 3-and-up at six furlongs on Saturday, December 11.

The following Saturday will again showcase a pair of NYSSS contests with half-million dollar purses for juveniles competing at seven furlongs, with the $500,000 Great White Way for males and the Fifth Avenue for fillies.

The next day, Sunday, December 19, will offer the $125,000 Queens County for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles and the $100,000 Gravesend for 3-years-old and up sprinting six furlongs in the final stakes action before a 10-day holiday break.

Live racing will resume Thursday, December 30 with the $100,000 Bay Ridge for New York-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles. New Year's Eve will feature the $100,000 Alex M. Robb for state-bred 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles.

For the complete Aqueduct fall meet stakes schedule, please visit: https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule/.

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