O. Peter Sherwood | Horse Racing Free Tips

NYRA’s Pre-Suspension Hearing Against Bob Baffert To Begin Monday; Judge Dismisses Trainer’s Lawsuit

Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York officially dismissed a lawsuit brought by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Friday, reports the Daily Racing Form, allowing the New York Racing Association's pre-suspension hearing to begin as scheduled on Monday, Jan. 24.

Amon's ruling indicated that the pre-suspension hearing fulfills Baffert's right to due process.

“NYRA is gratified by Judge Amon's decision to dismiss Mr. Baffert's suit in its entirety,” Patrick McKenna, a spokesman for NYRA, told DRF. “As we have said throughout this process, NYRA's focus in this matter is protecting the integrity of the sport of Thoroughbred racing in New York.”

Amon's ruling also states that Baffert will be able to pursue a separate judicial review of a suspension after the hearing is completed.

“Whether NYRA is a biased agency and whether suspension is a 'fait accompli' will certainly be clearer after the hearing has run its course and NYRA has decided to suspend Baffert,” Amon wrote.

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.

Amon 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.

The upcoming hearing process, laid out by NYRA in its official statement on Sept. 10, is not expected to be brief. O. Peter Sherwood, the retired New York State Supreme Court justice, will serve as a NYRA-appointed hearing officer. 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

NYRA Amends Charges Against Baffert to Include Bute Overages

by Bill Finley and Dan Ross

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) has amended its Statement of Charges issued against trainer Bob Baffert to include a pair of positive tests for phenylbutazone that occurred in 2019 in California and a subsequent inspection of the trainer's barn in which it alleges that 25 improperly labeled medications were found.

NYRA's Statement of Charges now contains allegations that, over a 16-month period prior to the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, six horses under Baffert's care violated rules and regulations in six separate races.

Having charged Baffert with engaging in conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing, NYRA has sought to temporarily ban the trainer from its tracks. A hearing on the matter is scheduled to begin Jan. 24.

Baffert has had numerous drug positives in recent years, including the finding that Medina Spirit (Protonico) had the substance betamethasone in his system when winning the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby.

After a July 27, 2019 race at Del Mar the gelding Cruel Intention (Smiling Tiger) tested positive for a bute overage and Baffert was fined $500. One week later, the Baffert-trained Eclair (Bernardini) also tested positive for bute and Baffert was fined $2,500.

While the two bute overages were not new news, the details of the barn inspection had not previously been made public. According to the Statement of Charges, Baffert's barn was inspected by the CHRB on or about Aug. 16, 2019 and the inspection “revealed that 25 medications were not properly labeled and there was no lock on the medication cabinet.” NYRA also claims that Baffert told the CHRB that he did not know how the bute got into the horses' systems and said that he would be offering a reward to solve the case.

Rick Arthur, who was the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director at the time of the violations, told the TDN that, while he couldn't remember specifics of the case, such barn inspections are “routine” after a post-race medication positive to “try to identify potential sources of the violation and advise trainers how to better manage their stables.”

Arthur added that there is no regulatory requirement for drug cabinets to be locked, even though the board strongly encourages medications to be securely stored.

Furthermore, the proper labeling of medications is primarily the veterinarian's responsibility, Arthur said, and that a crucial question is: What were the mislabeled drugs?

“If it's Gastrogard tubes out of the box,” said Arthur, pointing to a commonly used ulcer medication, “it's a technical violation, and not a serious one at all. If it was serious, an official warning or complaint would have been filed against either the trainer or the dispensing veterinarian.”

The amended charges also cite a rule change implemented by Churchill Downs in which no horses trained by Baffert are eligible to earn points for the Derby or the GI Kentucky Oaks and Baffert's claims that he would hire a veterinarian to ensure against future rule violations. The veterinarian, Dr. Michael Hore, was never hired.

In addition to conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing, NYRA is charging Baffert with conduct detrimental to the health and safety of horses and jockeys and conduct detrimental to NYRA business operations.

Peter Sherwood, a retired New York State Supreme Court Justice, will serve as hearing officer in the Baffert matter.

By deadline for this story, Baffert's attorney Craig Robertson had not returned a phone call seeking comment.

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Baffert’s Hearing on NYRA Exclusion Gets Pushed Into ’22

A Jan. 24, 2022, start date for the hearing process to determine whether the New York Racing Association (NYRA) can exclude trainer Bob Baffert from racing at its three tracks was mutually agreed upon by the two parties during a Monday videoconference.

A NYRA spokesperson confirmed to TDN that the schedule was established during the Oct. 11 conference by hearing officer O. Peter Sherwood.

Baffert must answer to a three-count complaint filed against him by NYRA in the form of a “statement of charges.” Those three counts correspond to Baffert's alleged conduct that is or has been “detrimental” to three entities: 1) “the best interests of racing”; 2) “the health and safety of horses and jockeys”; 3) “NYRA business operations.”

NYRA is already defending itself in a federal lawsuit initiated by the Hall of Fame trainer with the well-publicized history of equine drug positives over whether or not NYRA violated Baffert's constitutional rights by trying to ban him outright without any type of hearing back on May 17.

On July 14, the United States District Court (Eastern District of New York) granted Baffert a preliminary injunction that allowed him to race at New York's top-tier tracks pending the resolution of his overall case.

While that ruling allowed Baffert to start horses at Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack, NYRA additionally took the judge's order to mean the association could move forward with drafting a new set of procedures for holding hearings that could suspend licensees who engage in injurious conduct.

After those rules were made public, NYRA, on Sept. 10, wrote a letter summoning Baffert to appear at just such a hearing, presenting him with the statement of charges.

On Sept. 22, Baffert filed a motion asking a federal judge to hold NYRA in civil contempt for trying to schedule any sort of hearing that could once again bar him from participating at NYRA's tracks. He claimed NYRA's move to initiate that sort of hearing was in violation of the preliminary injunction.

But on Oct. 5, a federal judge dismissed Baffert's “contempt” allegations, underscoring that NYRA could, in fact, move forward with its newly created hearing process because it was entirely separate from NYRA's original May 17 attempt at banishing Baffert.

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