LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A federal judge denied Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a temporary injunction Friday in his fight to reverse a two-year suspension by Churchill Downs, effectively disqualifying Baffert from training his horses in the 149th Kentucky Derby.
Baffert had asked the court for a temporary injunction striking down a two-year suspension imposed by Churchill Downs after Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone following the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
In a 36-page opinion Friday, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled against Baffert, arguing that the ban doesn't constitute "irreparable harm."
"Failing to punish trainers whose horses test positive in marquee races could harm CDI’s reputation and the integrity of their races," Jennings wrote. "There is a strong public interest in deterring misconduct on CDI’s tracks."
She also wrote that "any nominal harm from the loss of goodwill by losing a single horse is severely outweighed by Plaintiffs’ unreasonable, 19-month delay in seeking injunctive relief."
Baffert, who did not have a horse in last year’s Derby under his own name, argued that he was denied due process before that suspension was handed down, that he was irreparably harmed by the suspension and would continue to be harmed if kept out of this year’s Derby.
Churchill Downs says that, as a private business, it has a right to suspend trainers and that Baffert did great harm to its marquee races with positive betamethasone tests in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks with third-place finisher Gamine and with Medina Spirit in the Derby the following spring.
In a statement Friday, Churchill Downs called it a "victory for the integrity of horse racing."
"Churchill Downs is pleased that the court denied Mr. Baffert's demand for a preliminary injunction and granted our motion to dismiss on all but one claim, and on that claim the court held that Mr. Baffert did not establish a likelihood of success on the merits," the statement read. "... We will continue to take action to protect the safety of our human and equine athletes."
Jennings noted in her ruling that Baffert is the only trainer whose horses have "tested positive in back-to-back marquee races on CDI tracks."
Baffert claimed he could be irreparably harmed if not allowed to participate in this year's Derby. But the judge ruled that Baffert had only shown evidence that he may lose one horse because of the ban and has made millions racing horses at other tracks around the world.Â
"The Court acknowledges there may be some risk of losing goodwill by not being able to train Zedan’s horse for the 2023 Kentucky Derby," Jennings wrote. "But the affidavits from horse owners all hold Baffert in high regard and indicate that they are satisfied with Plaintiffs’ services.
"There is no indication that owners would not continue to use Plaintiffs’ services after the 2023 Kentucky Derby even if the Court did not enjoin CDI’s ban. Accordingly, any loss of goodwill due to a single horse is nominal and unlikely to justify such an extreme remedy as injunctive relief."
In addition, Jennings on Friday declined a request from Baffert's attorney that the judge be disqualified from presiding over the case.Â
Clark Brewster, attorney for Bob Baffert in his federal case against Churchill Downs and its top executives, filed a motion to have Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings disqualified from the case.
In a motion to disqualify, Baffert's attorney argued that Jennings failed to disclose that her husband works for a lobbying firm that represents The Jockey Club, of which co-defendant Churchill Downs chairman Alex Rankin is a steward. The Jockey Club, as well, filed an amicus brief against Baffert's position as he sought to overturn a ban imposed by the New York Racing Authority last year.
Jennings ruled Friday that those issues "are NOT before this Court. Whether Plaintiffs violated KHRC or NYRA rules and regulations is wholly irrelevant to the exclusion, antitrust, and tortious interference claims against CDI at issue here."
And she said he has no "personal bias or prejudice against any party to this litigation.
"... Additionally, neither I nor any member of my family has any financial interest in any of the parties or the outcome of this litigation. And, after a deep search of the law and review of all briefings, I have found no statutory or other reason for disqualification in the case before the Court and cannot recuse."
This story may be updated.
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