LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A federal judge admonished Bob Baffert's attorney over an apparent allegation that the court had improper communications with members of the Churchill Downs legal team. In a terse three-page memorandum issued Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings warned against future conduct "threatening the court."
Baffert has asked the court for a temporary injunction lifting Churchill Downs' ban of the Hall of Fame trainer until June of this year, a ban that effectively eliminates him from entering horses for the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
Here's what you need to know:
- Baffert's attorney, Clark Brewster, made his case for the temporary injunction last Thursday and Friday in U.S. District Court in Louisville, with Baffert taking the stand Friday. Jennings gave no timeframe for her decision after the hearing, saying only that she would issue a ruling in "a period of time." Baffert needs to be cleared to train horses for the Kentucky Derby before Feb. 28, the date by which the Triple Crown is mandating that horses under the care of suspended trainers be moved if they wish to run in the Classic races.
- Churchill banned Baffert in the aftermath of Medina Spirit testing positive for betamethasone after crossing the finish line first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Baffert also is suing to have a Kentucky Racing Commission decision to disqualify Medina Spirit overturned. In a memo to Jennings sent \Monday, Brewster argued that because the federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is adopting an allowable amount of betamethasone that would have made Medina Spirit's test negative after the Kentucky Derby, his case is more likely to be successful in the long term and therefore more worthy of injunctive relief.
- Attorneys for Churchill Downs argued last week that Baffert had not suffered irreparable harm from Churchill's ban, noting that he'd won more than $10 million in purses around the world since it went into effect, and more than $1 million in Kentucky, and that the ban was justified, given the damage that Baffert's comments after the public disclosure of Medina Spirit's positive test had done to the Kentucky Derby and to the sport and the track. Before Friday's testimony, Jennings told the parties she only wanted to consider Churchill's actions in suspending Baffert, whether it was legally entitled to do so, if so, was there a process to do so, and did the track's leadership follow it. She repeatedly expressed frustration when Brewster seemed to take the discussion in other directions.
- Tuesday's response from the court apparently came about after an email exchange between the sides was shared with Jennings, including some talk that Baffert's attorney was "considering notifying the marshal's office for an inquiry."
WHAT THE JUDGE SAID:
In the order, Jennings wrote: "The Court has not engaged in ex parte communications with either side. The Court allowed witnesses in the order it deemed most appropriate after Plaintiffs failed to abide by the agreed terms. Plaintiffs' unsubstantiated claim that the Court engaged in improper ex parte communications is serious. Plaintiffs are warned that any future conduct implicitly threatening the Court, attempting to create or fabricate a situation suggesting recusal, or made for other advantage or litigation tactic will not be tolerated and may result in a show cause hearing and disciplinary action."
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
Baffert has a number of Kentucky Derby contenders in training, including Cave Rock, a son of Arrogate and runner-up in last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile.
While Baffert is banned from Churchill, horses trained in his name are unable to accumulate points for Kentucky Derby qualification.
While Baffert said he has been fortunate to win other stakes during the time of his suspension by Churchill, "the Kentucky Derby is the crown jewel" and the centerpiece of his training program.
Without a temporary injunction, the trainer will miss a second straight Run for the Roses.
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