What legal standing does Churchill Downs have to banish Baffert, since it is not a regulatory agency? What are the Hall of Fame trainer’s options and how have the courts ruled on similar actions by track owners? What happens next with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, now that a test of the split sample from Medina Spirit confirmed the initial finding of the corticosteroid betamethasone in a post-race sample?
Heleringer – a native of Louisville who in addition to his law practice served 11 terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives – joins publisher Ray Paulick and editor-in-chief Natalie Voss in this week’s edition of the Friday Show to answer those questions and more.
Attorney Bob Heleringer authored the book, Equine Regulatory Law, so there may be no one better to help us understand the legal questions surrounding the potential drug disqualification of this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, and the two-year suspension of trainer Bob Baffert handed down on Wednesday by Churchill Downs.
He also offers some historical perspective on a previous case that led to the drug disqualification of Dancer’s Image from his 1968 Kentucky Derby victory.
Ray Paulick tweeted that the number of North America starters fell from 64K to 42K from 2000 to 2020 while number of races fell from 55K to 28K.
Featured Image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Tuesday's Horse 