West Says Derby Lawsuit in Pipeline

[Wandering Eyes]

After Monday’s denial of appeal by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC), the co-owner of the disqualified GI Kentucky Derby winner said a lawsuit is the imminent next step in trying to reverse the decision by the Churchill Downs stewards to strip Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) of the official victory and relegate the horse to 17th place.

Gary West, who co-owns Maximum Security with his wife, Mary, told the Associated Press he was not surprised the KHRC denied the appeal the same day it was filed. The commission responded that it has no process in place to handle the appeal of stewards’ in-race disqualifications.

But the act of having filed the formal appeal could at least serve as a mechanism to potentially show a judge that the Wests attempted to resolve the case at the state agency level before forging ahead with legal action.

“Based on everything that has happened so far, I’m not surprised,” West told the AP. “We’ll file suit in whatever the appropriate court is. I don’t know the answer to that, but the lawyers that I have retained will know what the appropriate venue is.”

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