Citing charges related to a racist post to his Facebook account in December, as well as his actions during an investigation since that post, the New York Racing Association is moving forward with plans to banish trainer Kevin Bond from its tracks.
As required under such a move, NYRA has scheduled a hearing to begin March 6. Bond has five days to supply a written response.
In a Feb. 13 NYRA report outlining charges and the overall case, NYRA says the vulgar, antisemitic post on or around Dec. 16 to Bond's Facebook page was in response to an unsympathetic post about the murders of Rob and Michele Reiner. Shortly after attention was brought to the post, NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke said, "NYRA condemns in the strongest possible terms the vile, antisemitic comments posted today on New York-based trainer Kevin Bond's Facebook account. NYRA has zero tolerance for this kind of hateful speech and will begin an investigation into the matter immediately."
The NYRA report also outlines Bond's contention that his Facebook account was hacked and he did not post the comment. The trainer has retained attorney Clark Brewster, who said that Bond is committed to cooperating with any efforts to learn the source of the hacking incident.
Since the social media post in question, NYRA steward Victor Escobar has requested Bond provide documentation or correspondence from Facebook concerning the security breach, including screenshots of login history for the period of days around when the post occurred.
In response to Escobar, Bond said Dec. 23 that he would not be opening or activating the Facebook account in question because based on professional cybersecurity guidance, "re-enabling an account that is believed to have been compromised presents a risk of further unauthorized activity and potential misuse."
Escobar then requested Dec. 24 that Bond provide any correspondence or communications he'd had with Facebook. Bond responded Dec. 26 that he had not had any direct correspondence or platform communications with Facebook on the matter.
On Feb. 13 NYRA said it would seek to exclude Bond from its tracks based on three charges: breach of stall application (agreement), conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing, and conduct detrimental to NYRA's business operations. Under rules applicable to such cases, NYRA commenced by issuing a notice of hearing.
In providing detail of the charges, NYRA listed previous racist posts from other social media platforms that it says are tied to Bond. NYRA also said Bond failed to regularly train his staff "on anti-discrimination," as it says is required under the stall application. It also accuses the trainer of abusive and physically aggressive conduct toward other licensees and track officials.
In the NYRA report, Bond's legal counsel, Brewster, said Bond has cooperated with NYRA officials conducting the investigation but is also following guidance that terminating his Facebook account was the best action to take to "stop the potential hemorrhaging from additional imposter postings."
Following the proceeding scheduled to begin March 6, the hearing officer will issue a report containing findings of fact, conclusions, and a recommended disposition. The Honorable O. Peter Sherwood, a retired New York State Supreme Court Justice, is scheduled to serve as hearing officer in this matter.
On the track since 2024, Bond has a 9-4-11 record from 75 starts at tracks in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He will be allowed to continue training until final adjudication of the matter.
