NYRA, The Jockey Club File in Baffert Case

Trainer Bob Baffert will not suffer irreparable financial harm, did not suffer a violation of due process, and will only face damage to his reputation as the result of his own lack of oversight regarding medication use and not because of action taken by the New York Racing Association to suspend him, NYRA and The Jockey Club argued in court documents filed June 30 in a New York district court.

NYRA temporarily suspended Baffert May 17, blocking the California-based trainer from getting stalls and entering any horses at Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, and Aqueduct Racetrack. NYRA argued in its opposition to an injunction sought by Baffert to block his suspension that its actions are consistent with its right and duty to protect the integrity of racing and said in the most recent court documents that the relevant public interest and equitable considerations overwhelmingly weigh in its favor.

Ehalt: NYRA Hits Baffert With Temporary Suspension

The racing organization took action against Baffert eight days after it was revealed that Zedan Racing Stables' Baffert trainee Medina Spirit , winner of this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs, tested positive for the corticosteroid betamethasone, which is not permitted at any level on race day. A split sample later confirmed the medication was in the horse's blood on race day.

When it issued the suspension May 17, NYRA said a final determination regarding its length and terms would be based on information revealed during the ongoing investigation in Kentucky. A stewards' hearing, which has not yet taken place, is required before the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission takes any official action. Baffert has also been suspended by Churchill Downs Inc. at tracks owned by that corporation, including Churchill Downs itself, for a two-year period.

The absence of any official action by the KHRC is a key issue in Baffert's lawsuit, filed June 14, which seeks an injunction that prohibits NYRA from denying the trainer and the horses under his care entry to its three racetracks, denying him the privileges of operating on the track grounds, denying him stalls, and blocking him from entering horses in NYRA races. In that civil complaint, Baffert argues the NYRA ban violates his constitutional right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment, damages his reputation, and will cause a “mass exodus from his care of horses worth tens of millions of dollars as owners cannot allow themselves to be excluded from participation in the lucrative Belmont/Saratoga race meets.” 

MITCHELL: Baffert Sues NYRA to Remove Temporary Suspension

In a memorandum opposing Baffert's motion before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, among 238 pages of supporting documents filed Wednesday, NYRA attorneys wrote: "Plaintiff does not and cannot allege that NYRA's temporary suspension will 'obliterate' his California-based business. Here, Plaintiff merely suggests that he may lose unidentified clients if his suspension is indefinite. But even if Plaintiff were to lose some clients due to the suspension, he submitted no evidence demonstrating that this loss would substantially damage his business. Rather, Plaintiff, a trainer licensed in 'several racing jurisdictions,' only conclusory asserts that the potential loss of clients would 'Effectively put (him) out of business in the State of New York.' …

"Equally insufficient is Plaintiff's conclusory assertion that the suspension may result in harm to his 'professional reputation.' As a threshold matter, any alleged harm to Plaintiff's reputation stems solely from Plaintiff's own actions, not NYRA's actions."

NYRA attorneys went on to argue the organization has an obligation to uphold the sport's integrity and public confidence.

"Plaintiff overlooks the obvious when he argues that NYRA will 'Suffer absolutely no harm' if the preliminary injunction is granted," the filing read. "NYRA has a vital business interest—indeed an obligation—in protecting its investment, brand and reputation, and

supervising activities at its racetracks so that the public has confidence that the sport is conducted in an honest and safe manner. A breach of NYRA's obligation to properly supervise conduct at its racetrack, especially with respect to matters of equine and jockey safety, may result in revocation of NYRA's franchise under its franchise agreement with the State.

"An injunction requiring NYRA to allow Plaintiff to enter horses in races and stable horses at its racetracks immediately after repeated drug-related violations threatens the reputation of NYRA and public confidence in its operations. An injunction precluding suspension until after a hearing, which could take weeks if not months—particularly because Plaintiff is still pursuing evidence that he presumably believes is relevant to his defense—would not only jeopardize the safety of horses and jockeys, it would compromise the integrity of Thoroughbred racing and the public's confidence in its legitimacy."

NYRA's response notes that the Medina Spirit's positive test result was Baffert's fifth within a year. The Jockey Club's amicus brief also emphasized that no Kentucky Derby winner has failed a drug test since 1968. That was when Dancer's Image became the first to do so.

"Rarely in the history of the sport has there been such a confluence of drug positives involving so prominent a trainer as Plaintiff," NYRA's response stated.

NYRA attorneys also called into question Baffert's delay in responding to NYRA's temporary suspension, noting the trainer learned of the suspension May 17 but did not file suit until June 14.

"Plaintiff's unsupported allegations of irreparable harm are belied by his delay in seeking emergency relief. …Plaintiff learned of NYRA's temporary suspension on May 17, 2021," the filing read. "At that point, the Belmont (Stakes, G1) would be run nearly three weeks later, on June 5, 2021. Although NYRA invited Plaintiff to submit any 'information, data, or arguments' within seven business days of his receipt of the letter, he opted not to do so. Nor did he promptly seek emergency relief. Rather, he waited nearly a month, until June 14, 2021, to bring this action.

"Plaintiff has offered no excuse for his delay, and the fact that he waited until after the running of the Belmont undercuts any suggestion that the suspension caused or will cause injury, or that injunctive relief is necessary."

An affidavit presented by NYRA CEO and president David O'Rourke also focused on the multiple medication violations throughout Baffert's career.

"Turning to Baffert, given the indisputable facts that were in the public domain, NYRA had not only a right but also the duty to temporarily suspend him, just as Churchill Downs did a few weeks earlier, to uphold the integrity of racing and protect NYRA, horses, jockeys and the public," O'Rouke's affidavit read. "NYRA could not condone Baffert's reckless practices and undisputed substance violations, which jeopardize the safety of horses and jockeys and otherwise compromise the integrity of the sport.

"Allowing Baffert to enter horses in races and stable horses at the racetracks threatened the reputation of the Belmont Stakes and NYRA. Baffert did not then have any horses entered in races or stabled at the racetracks. However, with the running of the Belmont on June 5 fast approaching, NYRA needed to act swiftly and resolutely, because it was possible, if not likely, that Baffert might seek to enter Medina Spirit in that race. 

"The failure to take swift and decisive action, unencumbered by the delay of a formal trial-type hearing (such as Baffert claims he was entitled), could also result in public scandal and ultimately a decrease in spectatorship, a substantial loss of revenues to the state and the race track, and even the potential decline of Thoroughbred racing in general as a sport, with consequent loss of jobs and investments.

"Ultimately, I was responsible for the decision to suspend Baffert."

The Jockey Club, the breed registry for all Thoroughbreds in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico, is not named in the suit but provided its input on behalf of NYRA and in opposition to Baffert's efforts to be granted a temporary injunction to lift the NYRA ban. Baffert had opposed The Jockey Club's brief, but Judge Carol Bagley Amon on June 23 granted The Jockey Club permission to file.

"Since its founding (in 1894), The Jockey Club has been dedicated to the betterment of the breeding and racing of Thoroughbred racehorses, focusing on improvements to the health and safety of the breed and the integrity of the sport," began the brief, which was written by Susan Phillips Read, an attorney for The Jockey Club. "The Jockey Club has long believed that horses must only race when they are free from the effects of medication, and strongly advocated for passage of The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020. In general, this statute requires national, uniform racing integrity and safety standards that include anti-doping and medication control and racetrack safety programs to replace the current patchwork of state-level schemes.

"The Jockey Club is the keeper of the American Studbook, and one of the The Jockey Club's wholly-owned subsidiaries is 50% owner and managing partner of Equibase Company, keeper of the official database of Thoroughbred racing. Considering the above, The

Jockey Club has 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. 

"Because of its access to and familiarity with the Equibase database, The Jockey Club is in position to assist the Court by providing factual information that bears directly on Mr. Baffert's claim of irreparable injury under the business termination standard."

The amicus brief went on to detail that, in the past 10 years, "From 2011 through 2020, Mr. Baffert's total NYRA starts (Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga combined) numbered only 134, constituting a mere 3.23% of his 4,146 total starts in the United States

during that time period."

In that period, 93 of Baffert's starts at NYRA tracks were in graded stakes races. 

"The graded stakes earnings of Thoroughbreds trained by Mr. Baffert have not been consistently higher in New York than elsewhere in the United States," the brief read.

Statistics compiled by Equibase showed the average and median earnings per graded stakes starts of horses trained by Baffert over a 10-year period from 2011-20 at both NYRA and non-NYRA tracks. These numbers are close by average—NYRA, $143,340; non-NYRA, $114,900—and very close by median—NYRA, $118,090; non-NYRA, $113,189). 

"In short, Mr. Baffert cannot plausibly argue that his temporary suspension from racing at NYRA tracks has shut him out from those races where he typically earns most of his purse money annually," The Jockey Club brief stated.

"Further to this point, there are many alternative graded stakes races available to Mr. Baffert at racetracks in the United States other than those operated by NYRA. Notably, Mr. Baffert is based in California, and there is racing at Del Mar from July 16, 2021, through Labor Day Weekend, which overlaps the dates of the Saratoga meet almost exactly."

The brief went on to note that "Over 95% of Mr. Baffert's starts annually for the past 10 years have been at non-NYRA tracks, and the lion's share of his horses' earnings in graded stakes races derive from his successes at those non-NYRA tracks," and added, "In sum, the NYRA temporary suspension has in no way deprived Mr. Baffert of 'His ability to pursue and practice in his chosen profession and livelihood,' as he conclusorily asserts."

In conclusion, the brief submitted by The Jockey Club read, "This is a high-profile dispute, involving, as it does, whether Mr. Baffert, a well-known figure whom many of the public identify with Thoroughbred racing, is entitled to immediate access to two of the sport's most iconic venues, Saratoga and Belmont, despite repeated drug violations.

"The Jockey Club's interest, though, is broader than any particular personality or racetrack. From The Jockey Club's perspective, in order to protect the health and safety of the sport's participants and retain the public's confidence in the integrity of racing and wagering, racetrack governing officials should be entitled to suspend immediately a trainer or anyone else credibly responsible for the administration of medication resulting in a substance violation. These decision will almost always have to be made swiftly to be meaningful.

"In this case the data belie Mr. Baffert's protestations that the NYRA temporary suspension will cause him to lose his business, as his livelihood does not depend on access to NYRA tracks."

Attorneys for Baffert are required to file a reply, if any, no later than July 7. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for July 12 before Judge Amon.