Churchill Downs Inc. asks judge to throw out Baffert lawsuit

Churchill Downs Inc. has asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit from Bob Baffert seeking the lifting of a two-year ban the company placed on the Hall of Fame trainer last year.

In a filing on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, CDI asked the court to dismiss Baffert’s complaint “with prejudice,” citing case law and legal arguments that support the company’s right to ban individuals from its premises. Courts have generally upheld the rights of businesses to exclude individuals, provided the exclusion is not based on protected rights.

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Baffert had claimed in his lawsuit, filed only two months ago, that Churchill had violated his due-process rights with the ban. Churchill put the ban in place two weeks after last year’s Kentucky Derby, after Baffert acknowledged that Medina Spirit tested positive for a regulated corticosteroid after winning the race.

“Baffert is wrong in contending that CDI had no right to exclude him,” the filing by Churchill states.

The Churchill ban runs through the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

Baffert is currently serving a 90-day suspension because of the positive test. He has appealed the decision to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

In April, shortly after beginning the suspension, Baffert’s attorneys filed a motion to the same court asking to withdraw a request for a temporary injunction preventing Churchill from enforcing the ban. The judge granted the motion.