Baffert’s lawyer: Judge should drop out over conflict of interest

Bob Baffert’s case against Churchill Downs Inc. took anotherodd turn Friday when the trainer’s lawyer filed a claim that the federal judgewho heard arguments in her Louisville, Ky., courtroom last week had aconflict of interest.

“Her husband is the lobbyist for The Jockey Club,” attorneyClark Brewster told Horse Racing Nation. “They hired him after she wasappointed the judge in this case and paid him $64,000 (actually $66,264.69). Howdoes she not tell us?”

In his motion to disqualify judge Rebecca Grady Jennings,Brewster wrote that her “impartiality is in question, because her husband … PatrickJennings and his firm Commonwealth Alliances are legislative agents employed byThe Jockey Club. The Jockey Club has actively intervened publicly andlitigiously in the litigation surrounding the Bob Baffert-Medina Spirit mattersince the beginning of (the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and CDI) actionagainst Mr. Baffert.”

Patrick Jennings did not immediately respond Friday to a voice-mail request for reaction that was left at his Louisville office telephone number by HRN.

The filing went on to point out that one of CDI’s co-defendantsin this case is Alex Rankin, “a senior, influential member of The Jockey Club(who) serves as a Jockey Club steward.”

Brewster said he confirmed Patrick Jennings’s associationwith The Jockey Club when he read a Monday filing with the Kentucky ExecutiveBranch Ethics Commission.

“He’s also representing The Stronach Group,” Brewster said. “Imean there’s no way that she should not have disclosed that.”

The filing Friday came two days after the judge scoldedBrewster in a written ruling against his first motion to disqualify her.Brewster felt disadvantaged when Baffert was called to answer questions firstfrom CDI attorney Orin Snyder rather than from him. Brewster asked if there hadbeen some private communication between Snyder and Grady Jennings beforehand.

“Plaintiffs’ unsubstantiated claim that the court engaged inimproper (private) communications is serious,” the judge wrote Wednesday. “Plaintiffsare warned that any future conduct implicitly threatening the court, attemptingto create or fabricate a situation suggesting recusal or made for otheradvantage or litigation tactic will not be tolerated and may result in a show-causehearing and disciplinary action.”

Now it will be up to Grady Jennings to decide if she shouldaccept Brewster’s new call to remove herself from the case. If she were to doso, then the matter theoretically could be back at square one.

In Baffert’s case, time is of the essence. He faces a Feb.28 deadline to move his Kentucky Derby 2023 contenders to other trainers eligiblefor the May 6 race. Arabian Knight, the 6-1 futures favorite in Las Vegas futures, conceivably would be among those horses. Baffert is not eligible, because CDI suspended him for twoyears after the late Medina Spirit finished first in the 2021 race and thenfailed what has become a contentious drug test.

Brewster, working for Baffert and Medina Spirit’s owner AmrZedan, had asked Grady Jennings for a preliminary injunction that would keepthe Feb. 28 deadline from being enforced while also setting aside thesuspension. That was the subject of a two-day, seven-hour hearing in the judge’scourtroom last Thursday and Friday. Grady Jennings has yet to rule on thatmotion or on CDI’s call to throw out the whole case.

In the case of the preliminary injunction, the loser islikely to go to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to seek atemporary restraining order.

“I will immediately, if we don’t get a preliminaryinjunction,” Brewster said. “Which we should.”

Brewster’s new claim was the second example of a possibleconflict of interest in this drama. Clay Patrick, a hearing officer appointedfor the case between Baffert and the KHRC, recused himself in September afterhearing six days of testimony from both sides in August. That was after helearned Brewster bought a horse at auction not knowing Patrick had put it upfor sale.

After saying she would not hold a whole new hearing, Patrick’sreplacement Eden Davis Stephens called the two sides to appear before her March1 in Frankfort, Ky. Eventually, she will make a non-binding recommendation tothe KHRC as to whether Medina Spirit should be restored as the winner of the2021 Derby and if Baffert should have his name cleared.