Horse Owner Sues Breeders' Cup Over Entry

Class Racing Stable is suing Breeders' Cup over its handling of the pre-entry of Holy Lute in last year's world championships.

In a lawsuit filed in Franklin (Ky.) Circuit Court, Class Racing Stable contends Breeders' Cup was negligent in its handling of pre-entries and entries, resulting in the stable's Holy Lute mistakenly being slated for the TwinSpires.com Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) instead of the TwinSpires.com Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (gr. IT). 

Class Racing Stable said its trainer, Jim Cassidy, say they had pre-entered Holy Lute in the Turf Sprint but Breeders' Cup mistakenly placed him in the Sprint. Noting that Holy Lute had raced on turf in eight of his previous 10 starts, the connections opted not to race him in the Sprint at six furlongs on the dirt.

As is its policy on pending litigation, Breeders' Cup had no comment.

In the lawsuit, the horse owner is seeking monetary damages from Breeders' Cup that account for costs of training and shipping Holy Lute from Southern California to Lexington to compete, as well as the lost opportunity to compete in the Turf Sprint, lost increase in residual value resulting from not being able to participate in Breeders' Cup, and for lost opportunity to compete in other races it says would have been available if not for the Breeders' Cup pre-entry.