Baffert Gets Injunction to Race in New York

[Wandering Eyes]

A federal judge at 5 p.m. Wednesday granted trainer Bob Baffert a preliminary injunction in his lawsuit against the New York Racing Association that will allow him to race at Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park, and Aqueduct Racetrack pending the resolution of the case.

In a civil complaint filed by Baffert June 14, the seven-time GI Kentucky Derby-winning trainer had alleged that NYRA's banishment of him since May 17 over the issue of his repeated equine drug violations violates his Fourteenth Amendment constitutional right to due process

“This suspension is likely to cause multiple irreparable harms,” Judge Carol Bagley Amon of United States District Court (Eastern District of New York) wrote in her 28-page order July 14.

“First is the irreparable harm from the loss of unique competitive opportunities. Part of that harm is monetary….

“Second, Baffert has persuasively argued that NYRA's action will damage his 'reputation and goodwill' in a way that could not readily be remedied should he prevail at trial….

“Finally, to the extent that NYRA contends that Baffert's one-month delay in seeking a preliminary injunction precludes his claim, this argument is unpersuasive,” Amon wrote.

This story will be updated.

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