Judge upholds Churchill's ban of Baffert
?q=100)
A federal judge in a U.S. District Court in Kentucky on Wednesday night granted a motion by Churchill Downs for a summary judgment upholding the company’s decision to ban the trainer Bob Baffert for two years.
The ruling, issued by Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings, likely ends litigation in the case, which was initiated last year by Baffert in the midst of a two-year ban Churchill imposed on the trainer after the 2021 Kentucky Derby. After that Derby, Baffert had revealed that Medina Spirit, the winner of the race, had tested positive for the regulated medication betamethasone, the second betamethasone positive for the trainer at a Grade 1 race held by Churchill in the past nine months.
Other than reinforcing existing case law upholding racetracks’ rights to ban licensees from their facilities, the victory is largely symbolic for Churchill. Baffert was eventually handed a 90-day suspension by Kentucky regulatory authorities for the positive, a suspension that he served last spring and summer, and his ban from Churchill expired after the Derby was run this year.
Baffert had argued that Churchill had deprived him of his due process rights by issuing the ban. Early this year, Baffert’s attorney had asked Jennings for a temporary injunction that would have allowed him to run in this year’s Derby, but the judge denied that request after conducting a two-day hearing on the plea in February.
In her Wednesday ruling, Jennings limited her analysis to a single issue – whether Baffert was deprived of a property interest by the Churchill ban. Because Baffert successfully raced horses at tracks throughout the U.S. during the two-year ban, she wrote, his arguments “cannot demonstrate” that he “was deprived of a property interest – a necessary element” of his claim.
“Plaintiffs have failed to produce specific evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact that would allow a reasonable jury to find in their favor at trial,” Jennings wrote.
After sitting out this year’s Derby because of the Churchill bam, Baffert returned to the Triple Crown trail with National Treasure in the Preakness just five days ago, winning the race. It was his record eighth win in the Preakness.
Courts have generally upheld racetracks’ right to ban individuals. Churchill had argued that the ban was justified due to the trainer’s behavior after revealing the positive, the trainer’s record of medication violations, and the reputation of the Derby.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.