Class-Action Bettors Urge Judge Not to Dismiss Derby Suit Against Baffert

[Andy Asaro]

I love this. Hope they don't toss it

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Excerpts:


Alleging that trainer Bob Baffert “is the Lance Armstrong of the horse racing world” because of a purported years-long pattern of racketeering activity related to the alleged “doping” of Thoroughbreds, a group of horse bettors who brought a class-action lawsuit seeking compensation for damages over the
result of the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby urged a federal judge Wednesday not to grant Baffert's motion to dismiss the case.



“[Baffert] would have the Court believe that there is no injury because Medina Spirit has yet to be disqualified. The disqualification of Medina Spirit is inconsequential to Plaintiffs' causes of action. The [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act] violations occurred regardless of Medina Spirit being disqualified. As alleged, Baffert entered Medina Spirit illegally [and] the Baffert enterprise has already successfully harmed Plaintiffs. Once again, Baffert has profited while the Plaintiffs have been robbed of their day at the track.” The Dec. 29 filing continued: “Plaintiffs have stated causes of action that do not rely upon the horse racing regulations but instead are independent claims existing under federal and state statutory law and state
common law. These claims are allowed whether they are allowed under the regulations or not. Defendants argue that Plaintiffs were obligated to follow the rules but side-step any obligation of Baffert's accountability.

“Baffert suggests to the Plaintiffs that if they don't like the rules they don't have to bet. But more to the point, if Baffert doesn't want to be held accountable under the laws set forth by the federal and state legislatures, then he shouldn't conduct an illegal enterprise of racketeering and fraud,” the filing stated.

[Psychotic Parakeet]

If they are going after him, then they need to go after the person(s) responsible for supplying him the drugs, too. Ironically, their last name initials match BB's.

[rastajenk]

Nobody in his right mind wants something like this to go forward.

[Andy Asaro]

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/s...70#post2776970

[dilanesp]

It'll get dismissed. Bettors' suits always do.

There was one recently in poker. Mike Postle was accused of using technology to see the hole cards on livestreamed poker telecasts from Sacramento, allowing him to win hundreds of thousands of dollars. The lawsuits lost.

The basic problem is that all sorts of unfair stuff goes down in events that are bet on, and it is impossible to draw lines as to when people can sue and when they can't. E.g., imagine if a football team puts out false information about an injury to their quarterback. That could surely cause people to make bad bets. Can they sue? And if they can't, why can bettors sue here?

A lesser issue- but still an issue- is that bettors actually take these things into account when handicapping. In other words, one reason Baffert's horses go off at short prices is because of his winning percentage (especially in big stakes), and if that winning percentage is influenced by drugs, the bettors are incorporating the information and aren't really being defrauded.

There's various legal doctrines that make these suits impossible- I could get into them in detail- but these are the basic motivators for why courts don't want to get into this business.

The solution to racing's problems is not going to come in a courtroom. At the end of the day we need regulators who don't come from the world of horse racing and don't give a hoot about offending powerful people within the sport or banning practices that have been tolerated in the sport for a long time.