This is the most recent article that I was able to find in reference to his lawsuit.
This one just popped up on my radar
Interesting, thanks.
Crazy to think that one of the biggest success stories in racing in the last 40 years would turn out this way after the fact.
I don’t usually quote the bible but it seems apt here: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
A personal observation is that the more money an individual has, the more they believe they don’t have enough. OK, a sweeping generalisation. I once heard one of the wealthiest persons in the UK viciously complain about a trivial bill in a restaurant, citing his poverty.
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There is more bad news on the horizon for owners, breeders, and trainers…not to mention small business in general. I may just go shopping.
This is the BHA Rules of Racing on the subject;
PAYMENT
An Owner must pay any amount payable under a Training Agreement within 3 months of being requested to do so.
Non-payment report
A Trainer may report an Owner that fails to comply with paragraph 3 to the BHA. A non-payment report must be made in writing and signed by the Trainer;
include at least the following:
the Owner’s name and address,
details of the debt;
the date that request for payment was made;
be accompanied by a copy of the unpaid invoice;
and sent no later than 15 months after the sum became payable.
A Trainer must not submit an unjustified or frivolous non-payment report.
Consequences of non-payment
If an Owner cannot provide the BHA with a good explanation for late payment, they may be added to the Forfeit List.
60A.1 The Authority may
60A.1.1 refuse to approve an application for registration, or
60A.1.2 direct that a registration shall cease to be valid
if the Authority considers that appropriate financial arrangements are not in place for the purposes of securing payment of all fees and the receipt of all payments which are due from the Owner of a horse in connection with racing.
Doe they not do that in the USA ?
Often times steward’s in America will give the horse to the trainer as payment. I think this is not the best of solutions.
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Maybe that happens in movies, but not in real life. The stewards don’t have the authority to give away a horse, and there’s no way the Jockey Club would transfer ownership under those circumstances.
Sometimes an owner can be convinced to give up a horse as payment for training bills–if the trainer agrees to that arrangement–but the stewards have nothing to do with the transaction.
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After my horse was claimed in California, the new owner did not pay his trainer’s bill and gave a handful of horses to the trainer as payment. The order is in the public record. The horse disappeared for six months, so I searched the public record. It does happen. Luckily he turned up at turf Paradise sometime later.
Yes, what you’re describing here does happen (as I said in my post).
What you said in your earlier post–about stewards often giving away horses in America–does not happen.
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The owner can do whatever he wants with his horses, whether giving to a trainer or selling. The stewards have no authority whatsoever to give people’s horses away. As LaurieB already stated.
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You can believe as you choose. Depends on the size of the bill.
Regardless of what either one of us believes, it is a fact that stewards cannot give away horses–much less do it often as you previously stated. The size of the bill has nothing to do with it. The stewards do not have the authority to assume possession of someone’s racehorse.
If you got your horse because an owner gave him to the trainer to cover unpaid bills, that’s a totally different scenario. Owners and racetrack stewards aren’t the same thing.
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Do you have a link/copy ?
It’s not a matter of what anyone chooses to believe. It’s the difference between fact and fiction.
LaurieB (who’s got a very good record with her mares’ produce) and a few others here are intimately involved in Thoroughbred racing and breeding. They’re hands-on and know/have worked with some of the big names you see mentioned in The Blood-Horse and TDN.
You have the opportunity to learn a lot in this subforum from some very knowledgeable people with actual “street cred”.
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You are free to chose to believe what ever it is you like. The CHRB has minutes posted. Feel free to peruse.
If this thing you keep alleging actually happened, why don’t you give us a link so we can read about it?
There’s no point in us wasting our time looking for something that doesn’t exist.
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I can back Kasey up on this one. Payment issues used to be brought to the Stewards and were part of the Stewards Minutes. Rather than dealing with liens, cost of care for someone else’s horse, proof of ownership (it is a crime to sell a horse that is not legally yours), and possible abandonment the stewards would “encourage” delinquent owners to transfer ownership of the horse to the trainer. After discussion, if the owner does not comply a complaint is filed and a fine is levied. The final step is to take the owner’s license. This is is common practice. Whether currently part of the minutes record, I cannot say. These last several years have taken a toll on public perception of the thoroughbred racing industry.
It seems that you are more in agreement with me than with Kasey as we are on the same page about it being the horse owner who might “give” a horse to a trainer to settle unpaid bills. Your mention of offering “encouragement” does not imply to me that the stewards often take possession of racehorses and then give them away.
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This seems to be the go-to dismissive response to anyone who does not agree with you 100% or has the gall to present their own firsthand experience that goes contrary to what you insist is the norm … and it is not exactly conducive to conversation/discussion. 
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I agree with your line of thought. In one dispute I was party to in NY, an ownership group was into us for about $10k and no sign of payment was on the horizon. My owner didn’t go to the stewards (they’re there to administer the rules of racing) but straight to the Commission, which was then the old NY Racing and Wagering Board. They were very clear in their response that they weren’t there to adjudicate a financial disagreement between two parties, but they gave a very stern reminder to the ownership group that part of maintaining a license required financial responsibility.
