For the eighth year in a row, America’s Best Racing is challenging some of the brightest minds in horse betting to come up with their top three picks for key races every weekend leading up to the 2024 Triple Crown and then continuing through the 2024 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The handicappers face off in what we like to call the “Big-Race Showdown.”
Month: March 2024
Chris ‘The Bear’ Fallica Ready to Tackle National Horseplayers Championship
Chris “The Bear” Fallica is a name that’s synonymous with sports betting. From his long tenure at ESPN on “College Gameday” to his more recent role as a featured wagering analyst on FOX Sports and the “Bear Bets Podcast,” Fallica is an absolute icon of American sports betting. But did you know that he’s also one of the most competitive horse bettors in the country? This year, Fallica will again make the trek to Las Vegas for horse racing’s version of the World Series of Poker: The National Horseplayers Championship (NHC).
CHRB Settles with Ruis in ’18 Santa Anita Derby Dispute Involving Justify DQ
Three months after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ordered the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) to set aside a 2020 stewards' decision and issue a new ruling disqualifying winner Justify from the 2018 GI Santa Anita Derby, a separate settlement has been reached that calls for the CHRB to pay $300,000 to Mick Ruis, the owner of runner-up Bolt d'Oro, and to order a redistribution for the $1-million purse of that stakes.
Dick Downey of the Blood-Horse was first to report the settlement on Thursday, citing details made public in court filings.
Neither the settlement nor the underlying lawsuit involved any direct claims against 'TDN Rising Star' Justify's then-ownership group (China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm) or the colt's trainer, Bob Baffert.
Although, as Downey pointed out in the Blood-Horse, “Presumably they retain the right to appeal the stewards' ruling” and the purse redistribution.
By winning the Santa Anita Derby, the undefeated Justify was able to earn necessary qualifying points to enter the GI Kentucky Derby. He then swept the remaining two Triple Crown races, the GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S, but was retired from racing six weeks later after developing a left front ankle filling.
It wasn't until 15 months after Justify's Triple Crown romp that a September 2019 bombshell story in the New York Times revealed that Justify had tested positive for scopolamine after he won the Santa Anita Derby, and that the result had been kept hidden from the public.
The Times further reported that CHRB officials arranged to handle Justify's positive “differently than usual” by holding an August 2018 executive session hearing during which CHRB members voted unanimously not to disqualify Justify or to sanction Baffert because the positive test was the result of contamination linked to jimson weed.
The stewards subsequently claimed they had no jurisdiction on the matter as it had already been decided, a decision with which the CHRB later concurred.
Ruis then began what would turn out to be a years-long legal quest to have the result of the race overturned with Bolt d'Oro declared the winner, alleging that the CHRB failed to follow its own rules when it decided not to pursue penalties after Justify's positive test.
Carlo Fisco, one of Ruis's attorneys, told TDN via email Thursday evening that the settlement also will quell a separate civil case pending against the CHRB that sought monetary damages.
“We have settled our monetary claims against the CHRB, which now has the additional duty to recover and redistribute the purse to the rightful owners including our client,” Fisco wrote. “It was never about the money. I'm hoping we can all move on and put the actions in 2018 of a few bad actors behind us. It's all been settled save for the purse redistribution.”
According to the Mar. 5 court document that outlines the settlement, “within five days of [the CHRB] being served with the signed Judgment, the Board of Stewards will enter a new order disqualifying the horse Justify and redistributing the purse pursuant to Rule 1859.5 and ordering that all purse monies earned or awarded be returned to the Paymaster of Purses at Santa Anita within 30 days of their order. If the purse is not redistributed within 30 days, [the] CHRB shall use its best efforts pursuant to its rules [in] ensuring that the [court ruling] is upheld.”
The settlement filing states that the CHRB's obligations “are expected to be fully performed by CHRB using its best efforts as expeditiously as possible.”
The settlement also stipulates that “Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed as an admission of liability, any wrongdoing, or any violation of law.”
The post CHRB Settles with Ruis in ’18 Santa Anita Derby Dispute Involving Justify DQ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Robin Goodfellow’s racing tips: Best bets for Friday, March 8
Mail Sport's racing expert Robin Goodfellow delivers his tips for Friday's meetings at Exeter, Leicester and Ayr.
