October, 2022 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Jamgotchian Sues CHRB Over Name Controversy

Thoroughbred owner Jerry Jamgotchian, who has a decades-long history as both a plaintiff and defendant in lawsuits involving horse racing entities, went after the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) in federal court on Monday, claiming that his constitutional and civil rights were violated when the stewards at Los Alamitos Race Course denied entry to one of his horses this past summer over its purportedly controversial name.

Although the Oct. 17 United States District Court (Central District, Southern Division) civil complaint puts forth a legal argument based on whether the horse Malpractice Meuser (GB) {Helmet (AUS)}had the proper registration documentation to be allowed to race, the subtext of the case is predicated on claims that Jamgotchian's naming of the horse allegedly equates to intentional trolling or harassment of a Kentucky-based lawyer who shares that surname.

And even though that attorney was not specifically referenced in any of the court documents filed by Jamgotchian, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported as far back as May 28, 2021, that a court battle was brewing over Jamgotchian's desire to name horses that allegedly “tweak” the well-publicized legal troubles of trainer Bob Baffert.

At that time, reporter Tim Sullivan wrote that “Jamgotchian wants to call one of his colts Bad Test Bob-a jab at Baffert's recent rash of drug positives.” He also reported that Jamgotchian had paid “$1,000 to challenge the Jockey Club's refusal to sanction Malpractice Meuser, a name previously approved in the United Kingdom and inspired by one of Baffert's attorneys, Michael Meuser.”

As Jamgotchian stated in that Courier-Journal story, “As soon as we get through this, I'm going to federal district court and filing a civil rights action…And they're going to get smoked.”

Now, nearly a year and a half later, Jamgotchian has followed through on that threat of litigation, with the CHRB as the defendant. The colt's breeder, Theta Holding I, Inc., is a co-plaintiff.

The complaint alleges the CHRB violated First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, plus federal civil rights and California state constitution rights. Among the remedies Jamgotchian seeks via jury trial are damages in excess of $250,000, plus a ruling allowing Malpractice Meuser to race in California.

Via spokesperson Mike Marten, the CHRB declined the opportunity to tell its side of the story, citing a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

When the Bad Test Bob name got rejected by The Jockey Club, Jamgotchian told the Courier-Journal that it was not a jab at Baffert, but instead referred to “one Bob Dreyfuss of Chatsworth, Calif., and his test for COVID-19.”

In Monday's court filing, Jamgotchian asserted that under free speech laws, “Even if Malpractice Meuser's approved name might refer to a living or deceased individual with a name that includes 'Meuser, 'or refers to no one at all, it is not a valid ground to prohibit the use of such name.”

Jamgotchian's complaint stated that Malpractice Meuser had the proper Jockey Club certification from Great Britain, where the colt was foaled, and subsequently got registered as a “covered horse” once the new federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act requirements became active in 2022.

But, the suit stated, when Jamgotchian wanted to enter Malpractice Meuser at Los Alamitos, “The sole reason for denial of the entry was the lack of a certificate of registration for Malpractice Meuser from The Jockey Club of New York, a private club which is not a governmental entity. [And] the sole reason, in turn, the New York Private Club refused to issue a certificate of registration was the name Malpractice Meuser.”

Malpractice Meuser has raced twice in his career, but has now been off for over a year. He finished third in his Mountaineer Park debut on June 30, 2021, then fifth at Indiana Grand on Oct. 14, 2021, for trainer Eric Reed and jockey Sonny Leon.

Both times, the court filings stated, “There was no public disturbance due to the name of Malpractice Meuser when he raced.”

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Tanquerray Another Timely Acquisition for Nicks

Indiana horseman William Austin Nicks, who improbably acquired the dam of Rich Strike just days before that colt won the GI Kentucky Derby in May, scored another dam of a future Grade I winner on a shoestring budget when he purchased Tanquerray (Good Journey), in foal to Outwork, for $2,000 at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton February sale. The mare was followed into the sales ring at that auction by her yearling filly by Outwork, who sold for $8,000. Reoffered at Fasig-Tipton Midlantic in October, the yearling brought $40,000. Now named Leave No Trace, the filly won this year's GI Spinaway S. and was recently third in the GI Frizette S. With that major league update in tow, Nicks, along with partners Randy Klopp and Roger Speiss, will send the Grade I winner's yearling full-sister through the ring at next week's Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October Yearlings Sale as hip 231 with the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment.

Nicks admits he deals in the lower-end of the mare market and was succinct about Tanquerray's appeal last February.

“She looked cheap,” Nicks said of the now 13-year-old mare. “I am not going to tell you I knew she was going to throw a Grade I winner, because nobody did. But she looked cheap. She had one foal to race, Unconquered Lea (Lea). He made $40,000 and had good speed index numbers, an allowance-type horse. She was a big, good-looking chestnut mare. And in foal to Outwork, he was standing for $10,000 or $7,500 or whatever, and I bought the mare for $2,000, so why wouldn't you buy her?”

Asked if he had seen the mare's future Grade I winner at the sale, Nicks said, “I didn't even look at her. I pretty much just mess with mares. I buy and sell and foal several out myself. I kind of do whatever I can do to make money in this business because it's hard. But I don't mess with a lot of yearlings.”

Nicks quickly added a partner on the mare.

“I texted Randy [Haffner] and I said, 'Man, I stole this mare,'” Nicks recalled. “And he looked at her and we made a deal on her. We both split her and that way we can split the Indiana breeders awards on the filly. That was part of our deal. So we both bred her. He had her and he bred the mare back to his stallion, Notional, and had a colt this spring and had her back to Notional on a pretty early cover.”

As Leave No Trace won her debut at Saratoga in July and with Notional's imminent departure for Ohio, Haffner was looking to downsize.

“After the filly won first time out at Saratoga is when we decided to buy her,” Nicks said. “[Haffner] was selling quite a few horses trying to downsize. I mentioned something to him about buying her and sticking her in this sale before the filly won the race and he just wanted to sell her privately. So Randy Klopp, who trains some horses for me, and Roger Speiss, who has a bunch of horses with Randy, and I ended up just buying five off of Randy to cheapen the average, so to speak.”

The partners originally intended to race the five yearlings, but Leave No Trace's victory in the Sept. 4 GI Spinaway S. changed those plans.

“We bought her to race,” Nicks said. “The only reason we entertained the idea of selling her was because of Leave No Trace. Since she won, we figured it would be a good time to stick her in the sale and if we can get her sold, we'd love to, and if she doesn't bring what we are hoping for, we will bring her back and run her.”

Nicks is optimistic heading into the October sale with a yearling with an impeccable update.

“She is doing really good,” he said of the yearling. “We scoped her and we did her X-rays and everything was perfect. She is a really tall filly. So she's kind of in the middle of a growth spurt right now and growing up rather than growing out like we'd like to see her. So she's a real tall filly with a lot of range. But I think she'll be just fine. She'll fit in with everything else down there, I think.”

Speaking of one Grade I-producing mare naturally leads to Gold Strike (Smart Strike), a mare Nicks acquired just five days before her son won the Kentucky Derby.

“That was just kind of a crazy deal,” Nicks admitted with a laugh. “I deal with the bottom-tier Thoroughbred mares and M.C. Roberts had that mare and he tried getting her in foal for a couple of years and he didn't have any luck. He called me one day the week before the Derby and he told me, 'This mare had a 2-year-old who won by a huge margin for $30,000 last year at Churchill.' And that's all he said. The horse was Grade III-placed at Turfway, so he had some black-type, but all [Roberts] told me was that this horse had won by a bunch at Churchill last year.”

He continued, “I deal with a lot of those older mares that are hard to get in foal. I've got people who will pasture breed them or they will cross them on Quarter Horses where they can do AI. So your older Thoroughbred mares that people don't really want to mess with because they are hard to get in foal, there are Quarter Horse people who can AI and race out of them. They will try them. That's why I got her. Then I found out who he was talking about. It was a shock.”

Rich Strike famously drew into the Derby field the day before the race and Nicks recalled, “He was 21 or 22 and I said, 'He'll never get in.' And then he wins the damn thing. It was just crazy.”

The 20-year-old Gold Strike has not produced a foal since Rich Strike, but Nicks is hopeful next year will be the charm.

“We bred her to Munnings May 25 and we checked her in foal day 16 and everything looked good,” Nicks said. “We checked her back day 21 and it was gone. I think it was just too hot–the first two weeks of June this year, there was a heat index of 120. We are going to try again, hopefully in February. We will get her under lights early next year. The vet who looked at her was very hopeful.”

The 27-year-old Nicks, who followed his father into the horse business, leases a farm in Sellersburg, Indiana and has been breeding horses since he was in high school.

“[Dad] trained for 10 years,” Nicks said. “And then he quit training and we started leasing a big farm and I started foaling mares out for people. I went through some stallions and breeding my own. Then I'd go to Keeneland and buy cheap mares for $1,000 or $2,000, bring them home, take pictures of them and stick them on my Facebook page and sell them for a profit. And whatever I didn't sell, I'd keep and foal out and make registered Indiana-breds. My dad started leasing the farm when I was a sophomore in high school. I would leave school early when I was a junior and take a mare to Lexington to get bred. That's all I've done. I've never had a job.”

Nicks and partners will offer Leave No Trace's full-sister during next Monday's first session of the Fasig-Tipton October sale. The auction continues through Thursday with bidding beginning each day at 10 a.m.

The post Tanquerray Another Timely Acquisition for Nicks appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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The Grey Gatsby’s Fee Hiked To €12,000

Group 1 winner The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) will stand for an increased fee of €12,000 in 2023, Jour de Galop reported on Tuesday. The long-term Haras du Petite Tellier resident's book will be limited to 120 mares.

Responsible for four black-type winners, led by group scorers Mylady (Ger), Atomic Blonde (Ger), and Master Gatsby (Fr), the stallion stood for €8,000 this term. Mylady was third in the G1 Preis der Diana, while Atomic Blonde was second in the G2 Oaks d'Italia.

A winner of both the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Irish Champion S. at the highest level, the grey was placed another five times in Group 1 company. His eldest foals are just 3-year-olds.

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Remington Oaks Winner Faces Two-Time Title Defender In Oklahoma Classics Distaff

The $145,000 Oklahoma Classics Distaff on Friday, Oct. 21 will feature a field of seven with the recent winner of the Grade 3 Remington Park Oaks, returning to Oklahoma-bred company to battle the two-time champion in the race.

Hits Pricey Legacy, an 11-1 upset winner of the Remington Park Oaks on Sept. 25, knocking off Grade 1 winner Juju's Map and seven others by two lengths, is back against Oklahoma-breds in the Distaff. Owned, trained and bred by C.R. Trout of Edmond, Okla., Hits Pricey Legacy is the even-money morning-line favorite coming off her graded stakes triumph. She is a perfect two-for-two this season at Remington Park, winning the restricted Oklahoma Stallion Stakes (filly division) on Sept. 9. The talented 3-year-old filly has never finished worse than third in her career with seven starts, four wins, two runner-up efforts and one third. She will face six others, including She's All Wolfe, the two-time defending champ in the Distaff.

Donnie Von Hemel has more wins in the Oklahoma Classics series than any other trainer with 29. He'll saddle She's All Wolfe for owner Dr. Robert Zoellner of Tulsa, trying to gain the 5-year-old mare her third consecutive win in the race. Only her mother, millionaire She's All In managed to win the Distaff at least that many times, finishing her career with four straight scores in the event. She's All Wolfe is a very close second in the morning-line odds at 6-5.

Like Hits Pricey Legacy, She's All Wolfe will come into the Distaff off a victory. She returned for her first action of the Remington Park season, in allowance company, beating Oklahoma-bred females going one mile, scoring by a 1-1/4 length. The win was her sixth career win over the Remington Park main track where she also has two seconds and one third. Her lifetime record of nine wins from 27 starts with six seconds and a pair of thirds has pocketed $638,860 into her bank account.

She's All Wolfe won the $200,000 Shawnee Stakes at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. on July 2. She has competed primarily in graded stakes events against older females throughout the year with her best effort a second in the Grade 3, $250,000 Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. in early February.

Other past winners of Classics races in the Distaff on Friday include She's Shiney, winner of the 2018 Lassie and Gotta See Red, winner of the 2020 Lassie.

The Distaff field, by post position and program order, with trainer, jockey and morning-line odds:

She's Shiney: Alan Williams, Jose Medina, 12-1
Canada Candy: Scott Young, Floyd Wethey, Jr., 20-1
Gotta See Red: Kari Craddock, Leandro Goncalves, 10-1
Hits Pricey Legacy: C.R. Trout, Jose Alvarez, 1-1 (morning-line favorite)
Kachina: Kari Craddock, Jansen Melancon, 15-1
Tesuque: Allen Dupuy, Gerardo Mora, 30-1
She's All Wolfe: Donnie Von Hemel, Richard Eramia, 6-5

Total purses for Oklahoma Classics night reach $1,120,000 with seven other stakes events and two solid starter allowance stakes. The first race of the evening is 7:07pm with the Distaff set for race six at 9:32pm. The Distaff will begin an all-stakes Pick 5 that will conclude the program on Friday. All times are Central.

Tracked by more than 171,000 fans on Facebook and 10,600 Twitter followers, Remington Park has provided more than $304 Million to the State of Oklahoma general education fund since the opening of the casino in 2005. Located at the junction of Interstates 35 & 44, in the heart of the Oklahoma City Adventure District, Remington Park features the top Oklahoma-breds in racing on Oklahoma Classics Night, a million-dollar evening of stakes events on Friday, October 21. Thoroughbred racing continues through December 17 with simulcast racing daily, and a casino that is always open! Visit remingtonpark.com for more information.

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