Baffert, Zedan seek judicial review of 2021 Kentucky Derby penalties

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trainer Bob Baffert and owner Amr Zedan have filed a petition in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky seeking judicial review of the penalties that were handed down after Medina Spirit tested positive for a regulated medication in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, which landed Baffert a 90-day suspension and led to the disqualification of the colt from the race.

The petition asks Judge Thomas Wingate, who has handled several horse-racing related cases, to review the “final order” of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in adjudicating the case. The petition seeks “nullification and vacatur” of the penalties, including the disqualification.

In the petition, attorneys for Baffert and Zedan acknowledge that Medina Spirit was administered Otomax, a skin ointment containing the regulated corticosteroid betamethasone, in the lead-up to the Derby. However, they argue, as they contended in numerous cases involving the incident, that the KHRC should not have treated the positive for betamethasone as a violation of the state’s drug rules, citing several interpretations of the regulations.

The KHRC has said that the positive was a violation regardless of how the drug was administered.

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Kentucky’s stewards handed down the initial suspension and order to disqualify Medina Spirt in February of last year. After the KHRC denied a stay of the suspension while Baffert and Zedan appealed the decision, Baffert served the 90-day suspension in the spring of 2022.

Last month, the KHRC upheld the decision to issue the suspension after a hearing officer sided with the commission in a report prepared after an appeals hearing held in late summer of last year. Under KHRC regulations, parties have 30 days to file an appeal of a final decision in Kentucky circuit court.

In a separate action, Baffert was banned by Churchill Downs through the 2023 Derby because of the positive. Churchill Downs later extended the ban through the 2024 Derby, citing Baffert’s insistence of innocence in several public forums after he served the penalty.

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