Medina Spirit Appeal Says Racing Regs Unconstitutional

The appeal of Medina Spirit’s 2021 Kentucky Derby (G1) disqualification and trainer Bob Baffert’s ensuing suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission hit a snag in court last week, and the presiding judge promised a swift resolution of claims that Kentucky racing regulations are unconstitutional.

Attorney Clark Brewster, who is based in Oklahoma, sought to transfer a portion of the Medina Spirit appeal out of one division of Franklin Circuit Court to another that is handling Steve Asmussen’s appeal of a 30-day suspension for two medication infractions. Brewster represents Asmussen in the latter case. Agreeing with KHRC’s position that the request was “nonsensical,” Judge Thomas Wingate denied the motion Oct. 11 and wrote he will continue to handle the appeal himself.

“The Court agrees entirely with Defendant,” Wingate wrote. “After thorough review of the Petition in this action and the Petition in the matter pending before (the other court), the Court finds the cases to be entirely different. While both cases concern medication protocols, they involve different parties, medications, science, facts, regulations, and legal arguments.”

Briefs were filed in Wingate’s court by Brewster the same day Wingate’s order was signed to spell out what the Medina Spirit connections are after, with most of it based on a theory that the enforcement mechanisms used in Medina Spirit’s disqualification are illegal.  Wingate summarized in his order, “Plaintiffs have raised various constitutional challenges under the United States and Kentucky Constitutions.”

Brewster’s first argument for Baffert and Amr Zedan, who owned Medina Spirit before the horse died in training on Dec. 6, 2021, calls for a court declaration that the “laboratory limit of detection” standard used to enforce Kentucky’s medication regulations is unconstitutional.

Alternatively, Baffert and Zedan posit the now-familiar argument that KHRC “does not restrict betamethasone regardless of its route of administration.” Baffert testified in a Kentucky administrative hearing Medina Spirit was not injected with betamethasone and came up positive in a post-Derby drug test due to the administration of an ointment. The substance is allowed for therapeutic use in Kentucky, but not on race day.

The next argument is broader, alleging KHRC’s power to impose penalties regarding the use of permitted, therapeutic medications in horse racing was accomplished under an unconstitutional delegation of legislative and judicial power and is therefore void.

Finally, Zedan says the imposition of what are called “summary penalties” by KHRC is unconstitutional. Baffert did not join in that argument.

The legal proceedings surrounding Medina Spirit’s Kentucky Derby have taken on a life of their own, but Asmussen’s cases have lingered years longer.

Asmussen’s suspension was levied by KHRC after, according to previous reporting by BloodHorse, Thousand Percent and Boldor tested above the permitted threshold for a metabolite of acepromazine, a sedative. The positives turned up after the two horses won races in June 2018 at Churchill Downs and October 2018 at Keeneland. Judge Phillip Shepherd heard oral arguments in that appeal Oct. 4.

In the order issued Oct. 11, Wingate wrote he would handle the Medina Spirit appeal expeditiously.

“This Court has extensive experience with Kentucky Horse Racing Commission appeals,” Wingate concluded, “and can swiftly handle this matter.”