Judge allows Baffert to amend complaint seeking dissolution of NYRA ban

A federal district court judge sitting in New York on Tuesday permitted attorneys for Bob Baffert to file an amended complaint seeking the dissolution of an order banning the trainer from the tracks operated by the New York Racing Association.

Baffert’s attorneys had requested the amended filing due to ongoing developments in a case that stretches back to mid-May, when NYRA issued its first ban of Baffert. In opening a teleconference hearing on Tuesday, Judge Carol Bagley Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York said simply that she thought “it makes sense” for Baffert’s attorneys to be allowed to amend their initial complaint, an assertion that was not challenged by lawyers for NYRA.

“I think that’s the most expeditious way to handle it and will require the least duplication of effort,” Amon said.

Under the decision, Baffert will have until Nov. 19 to file the amended motion. NYRA will then face a deadline of Dec. 3 to respond, and Baffert will be able to issue a final response on Dec. 10. A hearing on the ban has been scheduled for Jan. 6.

NYRA issued the ban on May 17, shortly after Baffert acknowledged that his horse Medina Spirt tested positive for the regulated anti-inflammatory corticosteroid betamethasone after winning this year’s Kentucky Derby. The case has not yet been adjudicated by Kentucky regulators.

Amon granted a preliminary injunction preventing NYRA from enforcing the ban this summer, but NYRA then adopted protocols to conduct internal hearings and called Baffert to appear before the hearing officer. That hearing is scheduled to begin Jan. 24.

Baffert’s lawyers have contended that the hearing protocols adopted by NYRA changed the complexion of the case, necessitating the amended complaint. Amon has already ruled that NYRA can proceed with the hearings.