The Louisiana Thoroughbred Breeders Association will hold a new election for its board of directors by a judge's order, following a pending lawsuit alleging the voting in last year's original race might have been fixed, NOLA.com reports.
Judge Danyelle Taylor of Jefferson Parish's 24th Judicial District Court also ordered on Thursday that the LTBA pay $90,000 in legal costs to plaintiff Lora Pitre. Perhaps most importantly, the decision dissolves all decisions the board has made since it was elected last summer, including a major change to the state's breeding rules regarding broodmare residency.
Pitre is the owner of Peach Lane Farms in Opelousas, La., a former three-term member of the LTBA board, and a vocal opponent of the new broodmare rules. In her January filing, she claimed the board tried to hide a review of pending membership applications and sent ballots to non-members in an attempt to swing the voting toward candidates in favor of implementing the new rules.
Among the changes the new bylaws brought about was allowing breeders to send their mares to stallions outside the state in consecutive seasons, with the ensuing foals still eligible to be registered as Louisiana-breds. Opponents of the rule argued it would harm the business of Louisiana's stallions without the requirement to breed back in-state to maintain state-bred eligibility, while unfairly benefitting larger breeders who could afford to ship their mares out of state.
Judge Taylor agreed with the notion that the LTBA board had not properly shown that the election had adhered to its own bylaws, and ordered an arbitration panel to supervise a new board election. In the meantime, the previous board was reinstated to run the day-to-day operations.
The LTBA board will also submit additional documents and sit for depositions as a result of Thursday's hearing.
Read more at NOLA.Com.
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