NYRA Panel Still Reviewing Baffert's Appeals

The three-member panel charged with determining the final status of the New York Racing Association's suspension of trainer Bob Baffert has yet to deliver its ruling as it weighs through a lengthy list of exceptions filed by the Hall of Fame trainer's defense team.

As a result, until the panel votes to either accept, modify, or reject ruling officer O. Peter Sherwood's April 27 recommendation to suspend Baffert at NYRA's three tracks for two years, Baffert will be able to enter and race horses at Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, and Aqueduct Racetrack once his 90-day suspension from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission ends July 2.

According to a source close to the process, Baffert's team submitted more than 1,000 pages of exceptions to Sherwood's ruling. Though there was originally a 10-day period for the panel to review the matter, the amount of material submitted by Baffert's attorneys made it unrealistic to complete deliberations in that time frame and the panel exercised its right to extend the deadline for its decision.

The three-member panel consists of Will Alempijevic, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Humberto Chavez of the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, and Saratoga-based attorney John J. Carusone Jr.

NYRA originally suspended Baffert for an indefinite period May 17, 2021 after the Baffert-trained Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) winner Medina Spirit failed a post-race drug test, but that ban was lifted by U.S. District Court Judge Carol Bagley Amon two months later due to a lack of due process.

In turn, NYRA instituted a revised policy for disciplinary hearings with Sherwood, a retired New York Supreme Court justice, serving as the hearing officer for late January proceedings that led to Sherwood's call for a two-year suspension and the subsequent appeals by Baffert.