Horseplayers Sue Baffert, Zedan

[Wandering Eyes]

Led by Michael Beychok, the winner of the 2012 NTRA National Horseplayers Championship, four gamblers have filed a Class Action Lawsuit against Bob Baffert and Amr Zedan, alleging fraud. Each maintains that they made bets that would have won had GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) not been doped. The plaintiffs allege that Baffert and Zedan are in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the California Control of Profits of Organized Crime Act (CCPOCA) and for state common law and equitable fraud.

The suit was filed Thursday in United States District Court for the Central District of California.

When reached by the TDN, Beychok declined to comment and referred all questions to his attorneys, William Federman and Daniel Markoff.

In several tweets earlier this week, Beychok touched on the controversy and welcomed gamblers to join in the class action suit.

“This guy Baffert wants us to believe that a horse in his care for the biggest horse race in the world was given an injectable drug without anyone in the barn's knowledge,” he wrote. “Are you kidding me with this? That's the best he's got?”

It was revealed the day after the Derby that Medina Spirit had tested positive for a banned corticosteroid, Betamethasone. Subsequently, Baffert revealed that Medina Spirit was treated with an antifungal medication that contained Betamethasone to clear up a case of dermatitis and that Medina Spirit was treated with the ointment as late as Apr. 30, the day before the Derby. The Kentucky Racing Commission has yet to take any action against Baffert and cannot do so until a second lab has tested a split sample.

In the suit, Beychok claims he made bets totaling $966 that would have resulted in payoffs between $10,000 and $100,000 had Medina Sprit not won the race. The other plaintiffs are Justin Wunderler, Michael Meegan and Keith Mauer. Wunderler claims he bet roughly $2,000 and stood to win at least $40,000. Meegan and Mauer each made small wagers.

In 2020, a bettor, Jeff Tretter, sued harness trainer Robert Bresnahan, Jr. and owner J.L. Sadowsky for doping, racketeering and fraud after betting on a horse that finished behind a Bresnahan-trained horse who won a 2016 race at the Meadowlands and tested positive for EPO. Bresnahan and Sadowsky settled with Tretter out of court, paying the Illinois gambler $20,000.

This story will be updated.

 

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