Choosing not to approve Bob Baffert’s two-year suspension from New York Racing Association races recommended through a hearing officer, the three-man NYRA board issued an order to suspend the withdrawal. The short June 23 for Hall of Fame coaching session is scheduled to run through January 25, 2023.
The jury officially granted Baffert a one-year suspension, although they credited him with 59 days of service under an earlier NYRA temporary suspension order as well as a 90-day suspension issued by the Kentucky Equestrian Commission. released and honored by the New York State Game Commission. The panel’s decision came two months after the hearing officer’s recommendation, made by retired New York Supreme Court Justice O. Peter Sherwood.
Baffert’s attorney, Clark Brewster, requested that any sanctions be upheld pending administrative and judicial review, but that request was denied in a letter filed by attorney John J. Carusone Jr. , one of three members of the council. Carusone responded in a letter Thursday to Baffert’s legal team that no administrative complaints are allowed under the NYRA’s hearing process, which it created last year.
Will Alempijevic, executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Riders Association, and Humberto Chavez of the New York Circuit Chaplain are the other two members of the panel.
Baffert is nearing the end of a 90-day suspension issued by Kentucky regulators and applied nationwide that runs through early July and is the result of a positive Medina Spirit test for betamethasone during the 2021 Kentucky Derby due to Woodford Reserve. (G1) presented at Churchill Downs. Stewards further disqualified Medina Spirit and fined Baffert $7,500, the sanctions, along with his suspension, are being appealed.
Since his 90-day regulatory suspension began in April, trainers Sean McCarthy and Tim Yakteen have overseen much of Baffert’s stables.
The Kentucky regulators took into account Baffert’s other violations in applying their penalties, as did the panel and Sherwood. During the hearing, NYRA attorney Henry Greenberg said Baffert had seven drug offenses since July 2019. None of them occurred in New York, and they involved medication.
Brewster said in a statement to BloodHorse: “From reading the NYRA’s select panel’s decision, it is clear that they have worked very hard to minimize and generalize nonsense ramblings and contradictions. contradiction of Peter Sherwood’s orders. “But they still surrendered to the will of some NYRA board members who were blindly motivated by jealousy and self-interest to destroy Bob.”
When asked about plans to appeal, Brewster replied in a text message that “all options are under consideration, including direct action.”
Bob Baffert testifies January 27 at a hearing conducted by the New York Racing Association
Some drugs, such as betamethasone, are allowed in mid-race races but their presence is prohibited on race day in Kentucky. Baffert’s attorneys allege Medina Spirit was exposed to the drug through an antifungal ointment used to treat a skin condition on the foal’s hind legs.
The NYRA suspension, similar to the two-year private property ban that Churchill Downs Inc. applies to Baffert through mid-June 23, applies only to specific companies — in the case of the NYRA, three operating companies, Aqueduct race track, Belmont Parkand Racecourse Saratoga.
Baffert, based in Southern California, doesn’t often run in New York but will transport horses to compete there, often in big stock races. Baffert won the Belmont Bet presented by NYRA Bets (G1) three times, twice with three horses winning the Crown. He also won the Travers Stakes (G1) three times in Saratoga.
“This has been an unbiased and deliberate process that has resulted in the suspension of the sport’s most famous coach for a long time,” said Dave O’Rourke, NYRA President & CEO. . “However, this is not simply about Bob Baffert or any individual but about protecting the integrity of sport in New York. Today’s decision advances that goal.”
The 14-page decision issued by the hearing panel can be found here.
Pat McKenna, the NYRA’s vice president of communications, said none of Baffert’s interns would be able to run in New York during the suspension with a coach under him. Jimmy Barnes has in recent years been Baffert’s top assistant.
McCarthy and Yakteen trained themselves before accepting horses from Baffert this spring. Some of Baffert’s employees, such as the groom and gymnast, joined their act as two trainers added horses from Baffert while he served his suspension.
In September 2021, the NYRA released a statement accusing Baffert of alleging that he engaged in conduct that harmed the best interests of Thoroughbred racing or had the potential to cause physical injury. health or safety of the horse or rider.
The NYRA has established rules and procedures for hearings to provide a formal mechanism for defendants to respond to charges and participate in a hearing consistent with due process rights. Those proceedings come after Baffert successfully went to court last summer, alleging that his due process rights were violated when the NYRA first suspended him last year without have a hearing.
The hearing report issued by Judge Sherwood can be found here.
