KHRC Hearing Delayed in Medina Spirit Disqualification

An administrative hearing to review Kentucky stewards' rulings after Medina Spirit  failed a drug test following the 2021 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) has been postponed.

The hearing was scheduled to commence April 18 before the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Bob Baffert attorney Craig Robertson confirmed to BloodHorse the proceeding will instead start Tuesday, June 28. KHRC will bring in a hearing officer to preside, take evidence, make rulings and issue a recommendation to KHRC. The commission typically follows such recommendations, although it is not required.

On Feb. 21, stewards disqualified Medina Spirit from his win of the Kentucky Derby and handed trainer Bob Baffert a 90-day suspension and a $5,000 fine. The linchpin of the rulings was the presence in a post-race blood sample of the corticosteroid betamethasone. The substance is not banned in Kentucky, but stewards ruled its presence on race day a violation of the rules.

Stewards don't have the final word in these matters when an affected person mounts a challenge. Four requests by Baffert's legal team to obtain a stay of his suspension were denied, in order of occurrence, by the stewards; KHRC in a 10-1 vote; Judge Thomas Wingate after an appeal to Franklin Circuit Court; and Judge Allison Jones after a motion for emergency relief was filed with the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Jones denied that motion on April 1. Stewards had ordered Baffert's suspension to start March 8, but subsequent orders issued by Wingate postponed the onset to April 4, when it went into effect.

The other 37 racing jurisdictions in the United States are honoring the suspension. New York, California, and Maryland are among those that have done so formally, meaning Baffert will sit out the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes (G1), and Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets (G1). His former assistant, Tim Yakteen, is trainer of record for several runners from the former Baffert barn at Santa Anita, including Derby prospects Taiba  and Messier , who ran one-two in the Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 9. A corporation controlled by Amr Zedan owns Taiba; Zedan also owned Medina Spirit.

Baffert still has pending in the Court of Appeals a motion for interlocutory relief from Wingate's order to be considered by a three-judge panel unless the case is dismissed first. KHRC filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that Baffert's appeal to Franklin Circuit Court was not properly perfected, thus denying that court subject matter jurisdiction, which in turn would render Baffert's motion for interlocutory relief moot.

Baffert's legal team filed a separate appeal from Wingate's ruling with the Court of Appeals, which on April 5 issued a show cause order asking Baffert to explain why the appeal should not be dismissed or be "appropriately limited," citing the Kentucky Rules of Civil Procedure. Baffert's team filed a response to the order April 8. A dismissal of the appeal, should one be granted under these grounds, would not affect the interlocutory relief proceeding.

Robertson declined to comment on whether the postponement of the KHRC administrative hearing to June 28 was by agreement or due to a unilateral decision by KHRC, which has a policy of not commenting on active regulatory matters.

Another suit filed by Baffert's team, this one in federal court, challenges a two-year ban imposed by Churchill Downs, Inc. against Baffert entering horses at tracks owned by the company. A motion for preliminary injunction filed for Baffert was set to be heard April 15, but in light of the trainer's suspension taking effect, a motion to withdraw was approved by Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings on April 11. Her order says the motion may be refiled.