NYRA, Kevin Bond reach settlement agreement

The New York Racing Association has reached a settlement agreement over allegations of abusive behavior by the trainer Kevin Bond that will require the trainer to “step away from racing and training activities at NYRA tracks” until Aug. 14, according to NYRA.

The settlement agreement will result in NYRA dropping an administrative proceeding it had launched in February to investigate social media posts allegedly made by Bond that were anti-semitic, as well as two other incidents on the backstretch in which NYRA alleged that Bond was abusive to workers, NYRA said.

A spokesperson for NYRA said that other aspects of the settlement agreement were confidential.

Bond, who has a career record of 10 wins from 86 starts, has not started a horse at any U.S. track since May 2.

Bond’s attorney, Clark Brewster, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A post allegedly made by Bond on Dec. 16 caused an uproar that led NYRA to initiate an investigation into Bond’s social-media activity. The post made a mocking comment about the murder of the director Rob Reiner and his wife that was widely interpreted as both anti-semitic and anti-LGBTQ.

Bond had maintained that his social media account was hacked, but NYRA accused the trainer of stonewalling any investigation into the veracity of that statement when it issued a statement of charges against the trainer on Feb. 16 to start the administrative proceeding.

Bond is the son of trainer James Bond and Tina Bond, the president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. Two of the horses that had appeared under his name as a trainer have since made starts under his father’s name.

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