Eden Davis Stephens named new hearing officer in Baffert suspension appeal

Eden Davis Stephens, the deputy director of the Kentucky Office of Administrative Hearings, has been assigned to be the new hearing officer in an appeal by the trainer Bob Baffert of a 90-day suspension he served earlier this year related to the disqualification of Medina Spirit from last year’s Kentucky Derby, according to a spokesperson for the KHRC.

A new hearing officer was required in the case after an attorney representing Amr Zedan, Medina Spirit’s owner, bought a yearling colt at the September sale at Keeneland that was co-owned by the hearing officer who presided over a six-day appeals hearing in August. The attorney, Clark Brewster, said he had no knowledge at the time of the sale that the hearing officer, Clay Patrick, had an ownership stake in the horse. Patrick recused himself from the case because of the purchase.

Baffert has already served a 90-day suspension handed down by the KHRC in February for the finding of the regulated corticosteroid betamethasone in Medina Spirit after the colt won the Derby. Medina Spirit, who died in December of last year, was also disqualified from the race. The KHRC had denied Baffert a stay of the penalty while his appeal was pending.

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The KHRC spokesperson, Kristin Voskuhl, said that no decision has been made yet on whether Stephens will conduct an entirely new hearing or issue a report of recommendations based on the transcripts of the August hearing.

“She will determine next steps in the case,” Voskuhl said.

Under Kentucky regulations, Patrick would have been required to issue a report on his recommendations in the case 60 days after he received the transcript of the hearing. Those requirements were suspended after Patrick recused himself.

The KHRC can vote to accept, reject, or modify a hearing officer’s recommendations.

At the hearing, Baffert and his attorneys argued that Medina Spirit tested positive because of the administration of a skin ointment containing betamethasone, and that KHRC’s regulations on the drug should not apply to the case. KHRC attorneys argued that the rules clearly state that betamethasone is prohibited from being in a horse’s system on race day.

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