Bob Baffert disciplinary hearing kicks off with explosive opening day

US Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has been accused of taking "a wrecking ball to the integrity" of racing during the opening day of a New York Racing Association (NYRA) disciplinary hearing.

The hearing, expected to last most, if not all, of the week, started with Baffert in attendance with opening statements painting completely opposite pictures of the trainer.

NYRA attorney Henry Greenberg, in calling the hearing "profoundly important" for the sport's equine athletes, jockeys, and fans, urged for Baffert to be given a lengthy suspension. He listed the damage to the sport's integrity through seven drug violations by Baffert-trained horses since July 2019.

Greenberg played on Baffert's Triple Crown success on the track, saying the only Triple Crown Baffert was responsible for during that period was destroying "three great stakes" in the Arkansas Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby (a trio of 2020 and 2021 races in which Baffert horses failed post-race drug tests and Baffert was sanctioned).

"We will show that one man, Bob Baffert, took a wrecking ball to the integrity of the sport," Greenberg said about Baffert's violations and his refusal to accept blame. "His rampage of violations over a 14-month period is something that nowhere else in the history of modern racing can you find anything like it by a prominent trainer."

Baffert's attorney Craig Robertson said the trainer was not suspended for any of the drug violations since July 2019, that he has never been charged with a violation in 30 years of racing in New York, and has already been suspended by NYRA for 58 days.

Robertson suggested that NYRA's desire to suspend Baffert was fuelled by the envy of NYRA board members waging a vendetta against the trainer because their horses could not outrun his.

"The bias, the vindictiveness NYRA has, has no bounds. Mr Baffert has spent his entire life devoted to horseracing. For 46 years he has been a tremendous ambassador of horseracing," Robertson said.

"Now, three years after they put him in their Hall of Fame, NYRA wants to unceremoniously throw him out on his ear, all because a few powerful board members have a personal vendetta and want to eliminate a competitor."

Greenberg spoke while a timeline was displayed showing the seven times a Baffert horse was cited for a drug violation between July 27, 2019 and May 1, 2021.

He also cited Baffert's failure to follow through with a 2020 statement to hire a vet to eliminate future violations, and how the trainer insisted a week after the Kentucky Derby that Medina Spirit was never treated with betamethasone, only to announce a few days later that he applied the topical cream which contains betamethasone, to a rash on Medina Spirit in the days before the race.

Bob Baffert pictured at last year's Breeders' Cup in Del MarCredit: Edward Whitaker

"NYRA had an obligation to protect the sport of horseracing and its integrity," Greenberg said of its decision to suspend Baffert. "NYRA has that obligation to protect these athletes and make sure these drugs are not in a horse's blood on raceday, to make sure people are safe and secure. NYRA had an obligation to protect fans and the betting public."

Greenberg also detailed evidence that included a 2019 California Horse Racing Board investigation of Baffert's barn at Del Mar that found 25 mislabelled prescriptions in an unlocked cabinet. "His barn was a ramshackle mess," Greenberg said.

Robertson said Baffert's New York training licence was renewed without a problem in December 2020 and in the May 2020 violations at Oaklawn Park involving Gamine and Charlatan, regulators rescinded the disqualification of both horses and a suspension of Baffert, levelling only a fine on the trainer.

Robertson said: "Now NYRA wants to step outside of the regulatory framework and relitigate matters that were considered in California, Arkansas, and Kentucky, even though they did not occur in New York. And even though those bodies said there should be no suspensions, they want to cast all of that aside and impose their own suspension.

"It is feigned outrage. It is designed to obscure their true motive. They are trying to ruin this man's Hall of Fame career due to a few board members' personal vendettas."

During Monday's hearing, Baffert's attorneys hinted the trainer will testify in his own defence and be subjected to cross-examination at some point in the proceedings.

The hearing was a result of NYRA's decision on May 17 last year to temporarily suspend Baffert following news of Medina Spirit's failure of a post-race drug test. Baffert was victorious in federal court, securing a restraining order on July 14 due to a lack of due process that ended the ban.

In response, NYRA created a new set of disciplinary protocols and regulations, leading to Monday's hearing that could eventually reinstate the suspension.

Read more on this subject:

Bob Baffert disciplinary hearing kicks off with explosive opening day

Bob Baffert threatens to sue Churchill Downs in complaint over two-year ban

NYRA amends charges against Bob Baffert with two further violations reported

The Front Runner is our latest email newsletter available exclusively to Members' Club Ultimate subscribers. Chris Cook, a four-time Racing Reporter of the Year award winner, provides his take on the day's biggest stories and tips for the upcoming racing every morning from Monday to Friday