On Tuesday, Dec. 28, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York granted a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by eight Standardbred racehorse owners against Jeff Gural and his Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs and Meadowlands racetracks.
The plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit, including owners Kapildeo Singh, Lawrence Dumain, Ira Wallach, Brian Wallach, Yves Sarrazin, Erlin Hill, Bruce Soulsby and Alan Weisenberg, alleged violations of federal antitrust laws and state competition laws after being prohibited from participating at the Gural-owned tracks as a result of having horses that they owned stabled in Florida over the winter of 2020-2021 with trainer Rene Allard, who is currently under investigation and indictment for offenses relating to the systematic and covert administration of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) to racehorses competing across the United States and abroad.
The Court dismissed the complaint for failing to identify a "relevant market," a condition precedent to pursue a viable antitrust claim. The Court also chose not to assert jurisdiction over the state claims as further grounds to dismiss the complaint.
Click on the following links to view the Judgment and Decision and Order.
(With files from The Meadowlands)