In an expected move that will heighten the uncertainty about who can run in this year’s Kentucky Derby, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert filed suit in federal court against Churchill Downs Inc., chief executive Bill Carstanjen and board chair Alex Rankin, to allow him to run horses in the world’s most famous thoroughbred race.
The complaint, filed Tuesday in the Western District of Kentucky, alleges that Baffert’s constitutional right to due process was violated when Churchill Downs suspended him for two years after the positive drug test for last year’s winner Medina Spirit.
“The notion that Churchill Downs … could unilaterally ban a trainer by an edict coupled in a press release without having the facts or any semblance of due process should arouse outrage in any fair-minded person,” said Clark Brewster, who is representing Baffert in this matter.
