BROOKLYN (CN) — It’s the end of the race for Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s trainer, who jockeyed to stop New York tracks from suspending him amid doping allegations.
Churchill Downs began investigating Bob Baffert, who claims four decades as a thoroughbred racehorse trainer, after the Prontico colt tested positive for a steroid called betamethasone — used to reduce pain and inflammation — after the May 1, 2021, race.
The famed Kentucky racetrack suspended Baffert, New York followed suit, and then the trainer filed suit, saying he wasn’t given a fair hearing before the Empire State put his license on hold.
The race investigation could take years to unfold, and during that time Baffert wouldn’t have access to grounds and stall space, he noted in his complaint in the Eastern District of New York.
Out of the gate, that argument was a success. U.S. District Judge Carol Bagley Amon in July blocked the suspension, writing that the drug tests and Derby suspension “were not so straightforward as to deny Baffert an opportunity to address them before being summarily suspended,” in a 28-page ruling.
Amon’s latest order, handed down Friday, makes the injunction of the May 2021 ban permanent.
However, Amon’s 25-page-ruling dismisses Baffert’s claims concerning a second suspension letter the New York Racing Association sent him several months later, in September 2021 — which did offer him a hearing.
It’s premature to block a suspension that hasn’t happened yet, Amon determined.
“Should NYRA decide against suspending Baffert, then Baffert will have little claim that NYRA has deprived him of [due process],” she wrote.
Friday’s ruling was the second time Baffert’s fight against the September suspension failed to win, place or show.
Previously, he had asked Judge Amon to hold the state racing authority in contempt for trying again while this case was still pending. But Amon drew a distinction between the two suspensions, since the second cured due process issues.
“I think you’re missing the import of the court’s original order,” Amon told the plaintiff’s counsel.
New York is home to Belmont Stakes, one of the Triple Crown races. Besides Belmont Park on Long Island are the Aqueduct in Queens and Saratoga Race Course, about 30 miles north of Albany.
Baffert won $1.8 million for Medina Spirit’s Derby win. He’ll lose that money if race organizers decide to disqualify him.
On Friday, Attorney William Craig Robertson III celebrated the partial win.
“The primary purpose of the federal court action was to obtain an injunction prohibiting NYRA was suspending Mr. Baffert without due process of law,” he told Courthouse News in an email. “We were successful in that regard and Judge Amon issued such an injunction – which she has now made permanent.”
Regarding New York Racing Association’s suspension proceedings initiated in September, Robertson said he’s skeptical the association will play by the rules.
“Should NYRA not act fairly and in accordance with the law, we will have the right – and we will be prepared – to once again return to Court to seek justice,” said Robertson, of the Kentucky-based firm Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs.
An attorney for the New York Racing Association did not return a request for comment.
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