Judge won't dismiss CDI-KHBPA/THG suit
 

This is a hugely important case that could has major ramifications on the future of racing. Fred Pope back on ATR tonight to talk more about changing the IHA, and I will try to get racing law expert Ben Liebman (quoted in Hegarty's piece) as well...


Churchill suit gets go-ahead from court
By Matt Hegarty

In a ruling that may undermine the contention of some horsemen's groups that they are exempt from antitrust laws, a Kentucky judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed by Churchill Downs Inc. against the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and Thoroughbred Horsemen's Group can proceed.

Judge John G. Heyburn, who has presided over several high-profile racing-related cases as the U.S. District Court Judge for the Western District of Kentucky, set aside the motion of those two groups to dismiss Churchill's suit in a ruling issued March 20. In doing so, Heyburn also cast doubt on the horsemen's groups' contention that the federal Interstate Horseracing Act exempted the groups from antitrust behavior, though he also wrote that "there are many facts and economic relations as yet unknown" that could affect a final ruling in the case, which has not yet been scheduled for trial.