Judge hears arguments on Baffert's bid for temporary restraining order

A New York District Court judge heard arguments on Monday over whether the trainer Bob Baffert should be granted a temporary restraining order keeping the New York Racing Association from enforcing a ban on the trainer.

The hearing, which began at 11:00 a.m. in a Brooklyn courtroom and concluded shortly before 12:45 p.m., was called to consider the arguments put forth by attorneys for Baffert and NYRA in submissions to the court over the past three weeks. The judge, Carol Bagley Amon of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, is expected to issue a judgment on the request by Thursday morning, prior to the opening of NYRA’s prestigious meet at Saratoga Race Course.

Baffert’s attorney has argued that the request for a temporary restraining order should be granted because Baffert is not currently the subject of a ruling in Kentucky despite the trainer acknowledging that his horse Medina Spirit tested positive for the regulated anti-inflammatory medication betamethasone following a win in this year’s Kentucky Derby. The attorney, Craig Roberston, has told the court that NYRA’s action to ban the trainer is a violation of his due-process rights, and that Baffert faces imminent harm from the ban because some owners have already moved horses out of his care.

On Friday, at the request of the judge, Robertson filed a letter with the judge also stating that five other owners are considering removing their horses from Baffert’s barn due to the ban: Gavin Murphy of SF Bloodstock; Jack Wolf of Starlight Racing; Peter Fluor of Speedway Stables; Sol Kumin of Madaket Stables; and George Bolton. Several of those owners are partners in high-profile horses.

NYRA has argued that the publicity surrounding the Derby positive calls into question the integrity of its racing product if Baffert is allowed to run horses at its tracks. The association has also relied heavily on case law upholding tracks’ rights to ban licensed individuals from its premises, a right extended to most private businesses, though those rights have limitations.

NYRA banned Baffert on May 17, calling the ban “temporary.” The association is heavily regulated by the state, complicating the argument that the association is a private company.