Via TD Thornton
Under cross-examination pressure that questioned his credibility, a retired New York State Game Commission (NYSGC) manager issued a nearly five-minute check shortly before closing. Wednesday’s hearing to determine whether the New York Racing Association (NYRA) can disqualify coach Bob Baffert on allegations of “adverse conduct.”
His voice cracked with emotion and ended the point by slamming his hand on the witness table, Stephen Lewandowski, who served as state manager at the NYRA track from 2014 to 2019, lost his temper after testifying in favor Baffert and later faced brief questioning from NYRA attorneys who wanted to verify that Lewandowski had selectively forgotten about his previous dealings with a Baffert controversy.
The NYRA’s lead attorney also wants to record that the former manager has been notified by a state ethics board for allegedly inappropriately campaigning on behalf of a prohibited coach. Controversial Richard “Rick” E. Dutrow, Jr. , back in 2019.
Lewandowski’s outburst, after about seven and a half hours with more substantial testimony from seven witnesses, overshadowed the remote video appearance of Hall-of-Fame pranksters Mike Smith and John Velazquez, both expressed unwavering support for Baffert.
The explosion also defeated an attempt by Baffert’s defense team to have the hearing adjourned due to rules of procedure regarding whether the NYRA exceeded its authority as an administrative agency. or not (the hearing went ahead; Baffert’s attorneys bluntly asked hearing officer O. Peter Sherwood to file a post-case summary that he would review).
For the third day in a row, Baffert did not testify at the January 26 hearing, which, despite being conducted in a conference room in the NYRA’s Manhattan attorney’s office, contained all of the elements of a trial.
In the morning, Baffert can be seen via the Zoom feed wearing a blue sports jacket, blue shirt skirt and jeans, fidgeting with his feet while taking a sip of white coffee. But by the end of the day, all signs of the tense energy had dissipated when Baffert was shown at the respondent’s desk with his attorneys just before adjourning another long day of testimony.
The NYRA alleges that Baffert’s alleged conduct was or was “to the detriment” of three entities: 1) The best interests of racing; 2) Health and safety of horses and jockeys; 3) NYRA’s business operations.
The NYRA attempted to remove Baffert back on May 17, 2021, without any due process. But he filed a federal lawsuit that got that ban overturned and now has to go through a newly invented NYRA exclusion hearing process, where Medina Spirit has yet to be tried for GI drug positive. The Kentucky Derby and four other recent drug offenses are in the spotlight. .
Lewandowski, called as a witness by Clark Brewster, one of Baffert’s attorneys, testified that he had never met the Hall of Fame coach in person until Tuesday. The former manager said he contacted Baffert by phone “when the whole [NYRA banishment] the process started and I offered to help… because I felt he was being taken advantage of unfairly. ”
During his time as a manager at the NYRA races (including additional stints since 2000), Lewandowski said that Baffert “never, never, never, never had any problems. any in New York. Never. The only thing I can remember is that maybe its owner needed a license,” which he described as a small difficulty he helped fix.
But when NYRA attorney Hank Greenberg took over for cross-examination, he tried to whet Lewandowski’s memory by asking him no less than five different ways if he was certain that Baffert had never been involved in a crime. controversial issues that managers must deal with.
“Not related to Bob Baffert, no,” Lewandowski asserted.
Greenberg then asked him to specifically recall the GI Belmont S. In 2018, that race was, of course, memorable for those Baffert-trained. Evenly won the Triple Crown.
But it is also remarkable to assert that Restoring Hope, a stable friend of Evenlywas sent with speed while going very wide on the first turn before abruptly cutting down to secure a position outside of Evenlyof ribs. It seems to some observers that Restoring Hope is acting as a “supporter” or “blocker” to escort Justify leading to victory.
In addition, rival owner Mike Repole later asked managers to investigate possible collusion by the riders based on the rider’s failure to follow his own horse, Noble Indy. to compete for the top spot. At the time, Repole also said that Restoring Hope was ridden more like “an offensive jockey than a racehorse trying to win Belmont.”
Brewster could see where this was going, and protested “This is bullshit!” several times before the hearing officer allowed a rerun of the race.
However, Lewandowski went on to insist that he does not recall any controversy, cannot recall any owners complaining, cannot recall discussing the situation with two other managers, do not recall later interviewing a jockey involved, and vacated about ever speaking to the press about the controversy involving Baffert’s horse.
Greenberg then gave him news clippings of the non-investigation, and asked the now confused Lewandowski to read his own quotes about it to refresh his memory.
However, Greenberg does not focus on that point. He quickly pivoted to rally Lewandowski’s support for Dutrow, who in 2011 was suspended for 10 years and fined $50,000 by the NYSGC’s predecessor agency after one of the Aqueduct winners His test positive for opioid pain medication and a syringe containing the painkiller and sedative were found in Dutrow’s stable.
Lewandowski retired in June 2019. Five months later, he wrote a letter to the NYSGC and the Queens District Attorney saying Dutrow’s punishment was too harsh and alleging that, “Mr. Braulio Baeza Jr., the NYRA Flight Attendant at the time… told me several times that evidence against Mr. Dutrow had been presented…”
That letter was included in published news reports. Baeza denied he ever said such things. The NYSGC issued a press release denouncing Lewandowski’s assertions.
And, according to Greenberg, the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) sent Lewandowski a letter informing that former public employees must not appear before their former agencies to campaign. on behalf of anyone or anything for a … period of one year after they left their jobs.
Lewandowski responded to Greenberg by saying he was “not aware” of any JCOPE investigation into that. “No one informed me – sort of what the NYRA did to Bob [Baffert]- that’s happening,” he said. “So I got a letter saying… they have chosen not to punish me or pursue this further. They found no reason to do it.”
Greenberg also had that letter. He brought it up and began quoting it to ask Lewandowski if he recalled that it had said he supported clemency on behalf of Dutrow “alluding to post-employment restrictions that apply to former employees.” state officials, specifically a two-year ban.”
And that’s when the former state manager loosens up with a rambling, slurred speech reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart’s courtroom portrait of Captain Queeg being raped in the 1954 film “The Uprising in Caine”.
“I am not punished. I didn’t even know it was happening. How about that? How can they run [an investigation] without talking to me? How can they do that? Oh I know. The NYRA does the same thing. They just decided to suspend Bob Baffert and not even talk to him. You think that’s right? You are a lawyer. Do you?” Lewandowski challenged Greenberg.
“Do you think that if I conduct an investigation on you and not [ask you] Which cases are true? That’s what you’re doing with Bob Baffert. You are suspending him without even talking to him…. How about asking him about the Kentucky charges that haven’t even been filed yet? If I were him, I wouldn’t answer the question! ‘ Lewandowski growled.
The boom continues (repetitions have been omitted here):
“[Baffert is] testify in two hearings now. How can you do that to someone? A person who is very kind to show off [Triple Crown] horses for everyone. Everyone! Includes all NYRA executives. They all went down there. Bob pulled [American Pharoah and Justify] go out and take pictures with them and do all that. And I never went down there. Why? Because I feel it’s not right to do so. It’s not true…
“And another thing with Rick Dutrow. I never spoke to him until I retired. I called up [a NYSGC executive] and I said, ‘How does Rick Dutrow keep re-registering? How did he do it? ‘…. And so it took six months to get an answer from the game committee. Who will take responsibility? Their job is to protect and help people like [Dutrow], do not hurt him. That’s their job, that’s what they’re supposed to do, do it for the people! ”
The boardroom fell silent while Lewandowski continued to talk about the NYSGC’s misconduct against Dutrow.
“Nowhere and no way is there [there] ever [such strict penalization]–10 years and $50,000! And you know another thing? They took his $50,000…. They took $50,000 from him and then told him – it was a completely destroyed man, no money, nothing, completely broken – and they made him pay $50,000 la and then told him to forget about it. [being reinstated]. Do you know how that is? I had the opportunity to do it, but I would never do it with a licensee. I would never take your money when I know you can’t work…”
This breath-taking part of Lewandowski finally took place in full 3 minutes.
At that point, Greenberg calmly asked, “Are you done?”
The NYRA attorney is definitely not over yet. Greenberg couldn’t resist getting Lewandowski back with another simple question: “Braulio Baeza – is he a good man?”
Lewandowski roared back to life: “Braulio Baeza – one of us is lying! Or Braulio Baeza or me. Are you accusing me of lying?… If you think I am lying, then accuse me of lying. Are you saying I’m a liar? Are you calling me a liar? Are you saying I’m a liar? I am not a liar!…
“One of us had information to help a [trainer] who has been wiped out, sir. Delete! They wiped him out! They took away 200 horses and he was out of business the next day. They didn’t even give him the right to come on the track and pay for his help! He’s out of business. Done. Complete…. One person has been wiped out! That’s what you about? Is that what you are representing?… Are you accusing me of lying? I’m asking you a question! ”
The hearing officer informed Lewandowski that “how it works here… Attorneys can ask questions.”
After Greenberg released his cross-examination, Brewster returned to address the final point regarding Baffert’s alleged unfair targeting by the NYRA. It is a quiet emphasis that perhaps merits testimony to the credibility of the witness.
“All these things [Greenberg] said that’s very bad about this coach, Rick Dutrow. Is the NYRA seeking to suspend Rick Dutrow? ‘ Brewster asked.
“No,” Lewandowski replied.
“In your career, have you ever seen the NYRA pursue a coach such as [with Baffert], that has never broken in New York? ‘ Brewster asked.
“No,” Lewandowski replied, regaining his composure.
