Judge dismisses lawsuit over Maximum Security’s Kentucky Derby disqualification
A federal judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit brought by the owners of Maximum Security in an attempt to challenge the decision to disqualify their horse as the winner of the Kentucky Derby.
Maximum Security’s owners, Gary and Mary West, filed the lawsuit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and its executive director, members and stewards in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky in May, soon after the running of the 145th Kentucky Derby, in which Maximum Security was the first to cross the finish line but was later disqualified as the winner.
The stewards determined after a review of the race that Maximum Security had drifted out and interfered with other horses’ progress. Country House, who had finished second, was declared the 2019 Derby winner.
The Wests had wanted the court to reverse the stewards’ decision and find that the decision had violated their constitutional rights to due process.
But Judge Karen Caldwell issued an opinion Friday in which she said “Kentucky’s regulations make clear that the disqualification is not subject to judicial review. Further, the disqualification procedure does not implicate an interest protected under the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.”
Caldwell said Kentucky regulations state that the stewards’ decision in determining fouls and disqualifications of horses “is final and not subject to appeal.”
It’s unclear whether the Wests will appeal Caldwell’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals.
In filing the lawsuit, the Wests asked that the $3 million Derby purse be redistributed to them, jockey Luis Saez and trainer Jason Servis.
After spending months recovering from colic, Maximum Security won the Grade 3 Bold Ruler Handicap at Belmont Park in late October, Blood-Horse reported.
This story was originally published November 15, 2019 at 10:31 PM with the headline "Judge dismisses lawsuit over Maximum Security’s Kentucky Derby disqualification."
