The Kentucky Derby 2024 is shaping up to be quite the event, considering everything that’s going on for the last few months. Amidst all the cacophony, the possibility of seeing veteran trainer Bob Baffert running his 47th Derby is keeping fans on their toes. The suspension order on Baffert by the California Horse Racing Board was extended for an additional 1.5 years over the controversies sparked by Medina Spirit after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Amid that, Baffert got embroiled in another court proceeding, this time to recover his tarnished image.

Investigations against Bob Baffert-trained Justify were initiated based on a lawsuit filed by Mick Ruis, whose horse Bolt d’Oro finished the 2018 Santa Anita Derby second. Based on that, Justify, a winner of the coveted Triple Crown, was disqualified. Now, the stallion’s connections, then-owners China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm, jockey Mike Smith, and Bob Baffert appealed for a reconsideration of the decision to disqualify Justify from his 2018 Derby win, according to a report by BloodHorse.com.

The California Horse Racing Board has directed Bob Baffert & Co. to pay a fine of $300,000 as compensation for the latter’s troubles and has cast another long shadow on Baffert’s chances of making it to the Churchill Downs racecourse for the 150th edition of the Kentucky Derby. This comes amid Amr Zedan, one of Baffert’s clients, lobbying heavily to wriggle an injunction order against the ban on Baffert from running at the Kentucky Derby. Zedan’s horse Muth is expected to bear Bob’s name at next month’s Derby if the wealthy businessman can receive the stay order. But what are the points Justify’s connections are bringing up in appealing against the disqualification?

Baffert and his buddies walking on thin ice

The 2018 Santa Anita Derby winner’s owners are alleging that the disqualification was levied based on fickle claims that were not substantiated with evidence. Justify’s Connections alleges the disqualification was not supported by substantial evidence and is contrary to law. They argue that the positive result was caused by environmental contamination that affected six other horses in the same time frame, yet Justify was singled out for disqualification.

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The “procedural irregularities and denial of due process and/or a fair and impartial hearing”, that prompted the disqualification verdict by attorney Amanda Groves irked Justify’s connections further because they were not even a party to the proceedings of the case. However, the attorney representing Ruis and the CHRB brushed aside the appeal’s merit by highlighting that, “The superior court had jurisdiction over the matter, and the Justify parties decided not to join in the litigation as they could have done“. Meanwhile, the Kentucky Derby decision for Baffert is progressing to its final stages.

Zedan has invested heavily into building his camp, and if Baffert is barred from returning to the Derby with hopes of his seventh Kentucky Derby victory, then Zedan will probably take the hardest hit to the chest. On Monday, Judge Mitch Perry said by the end of the week, the verdict on a request for a temporary injunction on Bob Baffert-trained horses, specifically Arkansas Derby winner Muth, will be out. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.