Judge Rules Hollendorfer Not a Third-Party Beneficiary

A California judge ruled April 29 against Hall of Fame Jerry Hollendorfer in the first round of a trial involving his lawsuit against the operators of Santa Anita Park for his expulsion from racing there in 2019.

In a ruling that followed a non-jury segment of a trial that lasted three days early last month, Judge Maurice Leiter found that Hollendorfer did not show "he is a third-party beneficiary who may sue to seek a declaration of his rights" under a race meet agreement between the track and the California Thoroughbred Trainers organization. 

Hollendorfer, 75, was barred from racing at Santa Anita Park and Golden Gate Fields, two tracks owned by The Stronach Group, in June 2019 after six horses under his care died at the two tracks during the preceding seven months. Santa Anita was experiencing a spike in equine fatalities at the time.

Hollendorfer has raced horses at Del Mar and Los Alamitos Race Course in Southern California since his TSG exclusion and at tracks elsewhere in the country, though with a smaller stable.

Though Leiter ruled against Hollendorfer, he wrote that his RMA rights are "not moot"—despite the CTT and TSG not coming to terms with recent RMAs. 

Leiter acknowledged a track's stall application authorizes an exclusion, provided it is not done arbitrarily or capriciously. He wrote that the CTT, "not the individual trainer," is charged with addressing a grievance.

The next phase of the trial comes before a jury.