By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Monday sued New York horse racing officials for suspending him from running horses at state racetracks, following a positive drug test for the Baffert-trained Medina Spirit after it won the Kentucky Derby.
In a complaint filed in Brooklyn federal court, Baffert, a seven-time Kentucky Derby winner and one of the sport’s best-known figures, said the New York Racing Association (NYRA) usurped the authority of the state’s gaming commission by suspending his trainer’s license.
Baffert said the suspension unconstitutionally stripped him of his right to run horses at its tracks or stable them at Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Saratoga Race Course.
“NYRA’s impulsive decision to deprive Baffert of his professional livelihood within the State of New York is one that it had no legal authority to make,” the complaint said.
NYRA officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Baffert is seeking unspecified damages and an injunction to lift the suspension, which kept Medina Spirit out of the June 5 Belmont Stakes. Craig Robertson, a lawyer for Baffert, declined to discuss the lawsuit.
Medina Spirit faces possible disqualification as winner of the Derby after two tests following the May 1 race showed the presence of the anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone at a prohibited level.
Baffert chose the lab to perform the second test. He has said he treated Medina Spirit with the anti-fungal ointment Otomax, and had not known it contained the steroid betamethasone.
Following the second test, Churchill Downs suspended Baffert for two years, including the Derby in 2022 and 2023.
At least five of Baffert’s horses have failed drug tests in a little over one year.
Only one horse – Dancer’s Image in 1968 – has been disqualified as Kentucky Derby winner in the race’s 147-year history because of a failed drug test.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
