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Keeneland and TCA Team on Sales Initiative to Help Essential Workers

Keeneland and Thoroughbred Charities of America have launched an initiative to provide September Yearling and November Breeding Stock Sales buyers the opportunity to make a voluntary contribution to TCA to assist our industry’s backstretch and farm workers. The voluntary donation will be included in the buyers invoice and equate to .05% of the hammer price of their purchase.

“This partnership with TCA reflects Keeneland’s mission to support worthy causes, and during this time of great need it’s even more important that we take care of our front-line heroes,” Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason said. “Keeneland is grateful for the tremendous work done by the TCA, and we are pleased to include this donation opportunity on our buyer forms this fall alongside the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance and National Thoroughbred Racing Association.”

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November Auction Anticipated for Zayat Horses Under Receivership

Attorneys representing MGG Investment Group, LP, which is the plaintiff in a $24.5 million Kentucky civil lawsuit alleging fraud and loan defaults against Ahmed Zayat and his family’s Zayat Stables, LLC, disclosed in a legal document filed Sept. 18 that the court-appointed receiver in that case intends to hold a November auction to sell off horses that are being held as collateral against the unpaid debts.

News about this anticipated November auction was made public in the form of a letter dated Friday and filed in United States Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey (Newark) by MGG’s counsel.

That letter pertains to a separate court proceeding initiated Sept. 14 by three other creditors who are attempting to force an “involuntary bankruptcy” petition against Zayat Stables. If the forced bankruptcy moves forward, it could keep MGG (and other creditors who are not part of either court action) from collecting on debts that MGG claims are backed by its own “first priority perfected security interest in all of Zayat Stables’ personal property, equine collateral, accounts and proceeds.”

Complicating matters further, Zayat himself (as an individual, not as his racing stable) filed for Chapter 7 protection Sept. 8 in a federal bankruptcy court in New Jersey, claiming to be $19 million in debt. And within that filing, the insolvent 2015 Triple Crown-winning breeder and owner disclosed that he is a party to three other active lawsuits involving money woes.

So right now the tangled financial mess involves numerous creditors jockeying for position to secure spots in a disputed pecking order that could determine which might be first to recoup proceeds from the Zayat horses held in the Kentucky receivership.

That’s important, because the federal court with jurisdiction in Zayat’s personal bankruptcy has already notified the 132 non-priority, unsecured-claim creditors in that case that “no property appears to be available to pay creditors.” So reaping proceeds from the sale of Zayat Stables’ horses appears to be the only means for some of the creditors to get paid.

The Sept. 18 letter from MGG’s attorneys was an attempt to slow down the process in the forced bankruptcy attempt. The day before, the three petitioning creditors in that involuntary bankruptcy case (Zayat’s former financial advisor is one of the parties) filed an Application for Order Shortening Time, in which they requested that an expedited hearing be set for Sept. 22.

“We are writing to request that any hearing on the Motion be scheduled for no earlier than Sept. 29 as the Petitioning Creditors have not presented any emergent circumstances that would require a hearing to be held as quickly as Sept. 22,” the MGG counsel wrote.

“The underlying premise of the Motion appears to be the Petitioning Creditors’ dissatisfaction with a Kentucky State Court receivership proceeding commenced by MGG on January 22, 2020 in the Fayette Circuit Court, in which Elizabeth Z. Woodward has been appointed receiver. The Receivership proceeding, which has been pending for almost eight months, has been heavily contested by Zayat Stables, which has not only failed in its efforts to date to get the Receivership dismissed, but has suffered the entry of judgment against it in the amount of $24,534,166.13.

“Substantially all of the ‘issues’ raised by the Petitioning Creditors in support of their Motion have already been advanced in the Receivership by Zayat Stables, to no avail.

The Receiver and her retained professionals have, under contentious circumstances, made substantial progress in monetizing Zayat Stables’ assets in a manner typical for the liquidation of equine collateral and consistent with accepted industry practices.”

The letter continued: “We are informed that the Receiver does not anticipate selling any of the horses or other components of MGG’s Collateral until a scheduled auction in November 2020, to be conducted by a recognized Thoroughbred auction house, such as Keeneland; nor will any of the proceeds of the MGG Collateral being held or to be collected by the Receiver be disbursed other than for the ordinary course care and maintenance of the Zayat Stables’ horses.

“Notwithstanding that MGG has a first priority security interest in all of the assets that the Receiver is charged with liquidating, and notwithstanding the fact that MGG has made substantial protective advances to the Receiver to preserve the MGG Collateral, MGG will not seek the Receiver make any distributions to MGG until there has been a disposition of the Motion or a further order of this Court,” the letter concluded.

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Expensive War Front Firster Takes Belmont Lid-Lifter

1st-Belmont, $63,000, Msw, 9-18, 2yo, f, 6f, 1:12.01, ft.
ZAINALARAB (f, 2, War Front–Delightful Joy {GSW, $179,200}, by Tapit), whose $1-million purchase price out of last year’s Keeneland September sale was the second-highest for her hugely successful stallion, got the Belmont fall meet off on a chalky note, grinding her way past her chief market rival Exact (Competitive Edge) for a narrow victory. Allowed to sit the box-seat trip as Exact made the running in advance of the blinkered Jade Empress (Shanghai Bobby), Zainalarab was pulled off the fence in upper stretch by Javier Castellano, drew alongside the pacesetter with a sixteenth of a mile to travel and inched clear to take it by 1 1/2 lengths as the 11-10 favorite. The winner has a Medaglia d’Oro half-sister who was consigned to, but withdrawn from the opening day of this year’s KEESEP sale this past Sunday, as well as a foal half-sister by American Pharoah. Delightful Joy, the 2015 GIII Monmouth Oaks winner, was a $700,000 purchase out of the 2017 Keeneland January Sale, and was most recently covered by Curlin. Zainalarab was scheduled to make her debut at Saratoga Aug. 29, but was scratched–along with stablemate Always Carina (Malibu Moon)–when a torrential rainstorm rendered the track sloppy. Sales history: $1,000,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $34,650. Click for the Equibase.com chart orVIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.
O-Shadwell Stable; B-International Equities Holding Inc (KY); T-Chad C Brown.

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Reward Posted in Green Mountain Park Investigation

The Vermont Arson Tip Award Program is offering a $5,000 reward for information that will lead to the arrest of anyone involved in the suspicious fire that consumed the Green Mountain Park grandstand in the overnight hours of Sept. 15-17.

The former track, located in the southern Vermont town of Pownal near the borders of Massachusetts and New York, last ran a Thoroughbred meet in 1976 and had been closed for racing since 1991 after converting to a greyhound configuration. The building was abandoned and no one was hurt in the blaze, which had to be quelled by 10 fire departments using 20 trucks

A report issued late Thursday afternoon by the Vermont State Police Fire and Explosion Investigation Unit noted that the fire within the grandstand was not the first in recent months, and that partiers and/or vandals trespassing on the grounds were believed to have been involved.

The report stated that “the building was the scene of several other small fires over the summer which had been put out by the fire department as well as numerous events of vandalism and littering throughout the property. These were deemed to be young adults hanging out in the area and entering the building to vandalize the structure, skateboard, and even more recently, ATV riders were noted inside the structure driving around.

“The fire progression was extensive and it was decided by the fire chief to only fight the fire from the exterior to prevent injury or possible death by any internal firefighting efforts by fire personnel,” the report continued. “Based upon the examination of the exterior and noting several areas of collapse in the roof and the damage to heavy support columns to the three-story steel and concrete building it was deemed too dangerous to conduct an internal examination.”

The report stated there was no electricity powering the structure. The Berkshire Eagle further reported that the grandstand, which was once fairly secure and monitored by video surveillance, “has sustained water and other damage from roof leaks and a flood that overflowed the nearby Hoosic River and entered the lower sections.”

Stephen Soler, managing member of Green Mountain Race Track, LLC, which owns the property, told the Eagle that “a significant amount” had been spent this year to re-secure the building. He said the fire should be considered arson “since they had to tear down boards to get in there.”

As recently as April, the Eagle reported, Pownal town officials had been concerned about “reports of youth and others entering the grandstand for parties or other reasons and sometimes starting campfires on the cement floors.”

The Eagle quoted a Pownal zoning official who said the town determined in the spring that “it did not have legal authority to force the owners to demolish the grandstand building, which has been informally estimated to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. But officials will likely reconsider Pownal’s options in light of the fire damage.”

Green Mountain first hosted Thoroughbreds in 1963 and added Standardbred racing a year later. In 1968, the track was the first on the East Coast to host Sunday racing, drawing busloads of horseplayers from as far away as Philadelphia. Greyhound racing took over in 1976. With the occasional exception of non-pari-mutuel harness racing at several county fairs, there has been no racing of any kind in Vermont since then.

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