NYRA responds to Baffert's contempt motion; oral arguments scheduled for Oct. 5
Attorneys for the New York Racing Association argued in a court filing on Wednesday that the association should be able to proceed with a hearing to determine whether to ban the trainer Bob Baffert from its racetracks.
In the filing, NYRA’s attorneys wrote that NYRA was in “compliance” with an earlier order of the court staying a previous ban of Baffert because the trainer had not been afforded a hearing, in violation of his due-process rights, according to the judge in the case. After that ban was stayed, NYRA adopted rules and protocols in September for an internal hearing process and called Baffert before the panel.
“NYRA’s actions that are at issue were undertaken in compliance with the order and provide plaintiff what he asked for – a hearing during which he could present his side of the story,” the attorneys wrote.
Baffert has contested NYRA’s legal rights to hold the hearing, contending that the order by the judge in the case, Carol Bagley Anon of the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York, prohibited NYRA from going ahead with a separate ban. Baffert’s attorneys asked the court to hold NYRA in contempt for violating the judge’s order with the hearing, which is currently scheduled for Oct. 11.
NYRA’s filing stated that its decision to approve internal hearing procedures was done “in good faith to comply with the order,” and it said that Baffert “has not demonstrated that the harsh tool of contempt should be wielded here.”
In addition, the filing argued that the order by Anon did not “clearly and unambiguously prohibit NYRA’s administrative proceeding against” Baffert.
Anon had given NYRA a Sept. 29 deadline to file any response to the motion from Baffert asking the court to hold NYRA in contempt. She has scheduled oral arguments in the case for Oct. 5.