The connections involved in the racing of Justify have filed a notice of appeal of his court-ordered disqualification from the 2018 Santa Anita Derby (G1) by a California board of stewards. They also requested a stay of enforcement of proceedings, which the California Horse Racing Board denied on April 16 according to an order CHRB provided BloodHorse.
The appeal, dated April 12, was filed on behalf of then-owners China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, Starlight Racing, and WinStar Farm, jockey Mike Smith, and trainer Bob Baffert. BloodHorse obtained a copy of the appeal notice from Carlo Fisco, one of the attorneys who represented Mick Ruis in a court case that led to the disqualification. Ruis owned and trained Bolt d'Oro , who crossed the finish line in second behind Justify .
Following protracted administrative and legal proceedings, a Los Angeles Superior Court ultimately ordered stewards to disqualify Justify, ruling that racing regulations mandated that outcome when post-race testing confirmed a positive for scopolamine.
After stewards complied with the Superior Court order, the California Horse Racing Board waived any further litigation with Ruis, such as an appeal of the ruling, and settled. The settlement confirmed Justify's disqualification, requires a purse redistribution, and provides for payment of $300,000 to Ruis.
Justify's connections were not a party to any of those proceedings. They claim in the notice of appeal, which was signed by attorney Amanda Groves, that their absence led to "procedural irregularities and denial of due process and/or a fair and impartial hearing."
In addition, those connections allege the disqualification was not supported by substantial evidence and is contrary to law, arguing the test positive was caused by environmental contamination that affected six other horses in the same time frame, yet Justify was singled out for disqualification.
They also argue that the matter should have been settled when CRHB met in closed session in June 2018 and decided not to take action on the test positive. The New York Times later reported on that decision, and the Ruis lawsuit followed.
A responsive letter filed with the CHRB by attorney Darrell Vienna, who also represents Ruis, says that none of the grounds raised in the appeal are relevant.
"The superior court had jurisdiction over the matter, and the Justify parties decided not to join in the litigation as they could have done," he wrote.
Vienna's letter also says the contamination argument is irrelevant given the plain language of the regulations and that the connections' claim about the decision made in CHRB's 2018 meeting "was decided and settled specifically by the superior court."
Justify's connections asked for a stay of the stewards' order until the appeal is decided. Ruis opposed the request, and Vienna wrote the Justify parties should be made to deposit the full $600,000 of the recovered share of the purse with the track paymaster until the appeal, which he deemed "frivolous," is decided.
A side issue could arise about the timeliness of the appeal. While conceding the appeal was filed more than the 72 hours allowed by regulation after the stewards' decision, Justify's camp noted the filing was made within two days of their being "formally informed of the decision." Vienna's response does not address that issue.
Justify went on to win the Triple Crown. Both he and Bolt d'Oro are successful stallions based in Kentucky.
This story was updated to reflect the request for a stay made by connections of Justify was denied by CHRB.
