(Bob Baffert at Churchill Downs prior to the 2021 Kentucky Derby / Photo by Gene McLean)

Bob Baffert, who has been suspended from Churchill Downs since his horse Medina Spirit was found to be carrying an access amount of drugs in his system when he finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby and was subsequently disqualified from the race, lost his latest attempt to force his way back on the track and into the race for the 149th version of the world’s most prestigious race.

On Friday, Federal Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled against Baffert and nearly all of his legal challenges against Churchill Downs in this long, arduous and exhausting legal debate and fight.

The next chapter in this road could be an appeal by Baffert and his legal team to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, that is domiciled in Cincinnati, OH. It is not known at this time if Baffert, and his lead attorney, Clark Brewster, will target that next move. Multiple news outlets have attempted to reach Baffert and Brewster on Friday. None, at the time of this posting, had been able to reach the trainer or his attorney for comment.

Grady Jennings — who also refused to recuse herself in the case despite efforts by Baffert’s and Brewster’s claims that she had a conflict of interest and may have engaged in “ex parte” communications — did agree with the Baffert-Brewster argument that the trainer should have been given a “prompt, post-suspension” hearing.

But that was the extent of the shallow “win.” Instead, Grady Jennings dismissed all of the other contentions and arguments, which amount to five other points of contention.

“Plaintiffs (Baffert’s side) have failed to carry their burden to demonstrate that the court should impose a preliminary injunction against CDI’s suspension,” Grady Jennings wrote in her rulings posted Friday afternoon. “Accordingly, plaintiffs’ renewed motion for a preliminary injunction is denied.”

Grady Jennings said Baffert’s side failed to prove the four points needed to get that injunction that would have set aside a two-year suspension that ends this summer. They included showing damage from the loss of purse money, the likelihood of a legal victory over a lack of due process, that public interests would be served and that CDI would not have been harmed by the injunction.

“Trainers have already earned points towards the 2023 Kentucky Derby,” Grady Jennings wrote about that last point. “If (Baffert’s) horses are allowed to race, then they would necessarily exclude those who would have otherwise qualified. … The Court finds that CDI and innocent third parties who have already earned points would be substantially harmed if the court imposed an injunction. Therefore, the substantial harm factor weighs against injunctive relief.”

Friday’s rulings also kept a Feb. 28 deadline in place for Baffert to transfer horses to other trainers in order to make them eligible for the Derby on May 6. That deadline was added to this year’s rules for Triple Crown nominations.

Also, Grady Jennings rejected a call to step down from the case over the claim she had a conflict of interest. Brewster said it was because she is married to Patrick Jennings, a lobbyist for The Jockey Club. Brewster maintained that organization had been working against Baffert in this case. In short, the judge said Brewster waited too long to make this claim.

“Plaintiffs had an obligation to bring any legitimate motion to recuse approximately one year ago,” she wrote, pointing out that her husband’s lobbying interests were readily available online. She also said The Jockey Club and 1/ST Racing, another one of her husband’s clients mentioned by Brewster, were not parties in this case.

Saying she “takes seriously the motion to disqualify,” Grady Jennings concluded, “Neither I nor any member of my family has any financial interest in any of the parties or the outcome of this litigation. And, after a deep search of the law and review of all briefings, I have found no statutory or other reason for disqualification in the case before the court and cannot recuse.”