A call is a call, of course, of course
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Whether a racehorse should lose the trophy and its owners the $1.5 million purse in the Kentucky Derby after being the first to cross the finish line and later found to have committed fouls is up to the race stewards, and not any judicial system, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ruled Friday.
The owners of Maximum Security, Gary and Mary West, filed their lawsuit in federal court just days after the famed 2019 race, calling for a judicial review of their loss, alleging that the stewards’ decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” not supported by substantial evidence, and violated their right to “procedural due process,” according to court documents.
Later that same year, a federal judge said the stewards’ decision was not subject to a judicial review under Kentucky law; a ruling upheld by the appeals court.
Who helped justify that decision? Mister Ed, the talking horse, of course, of course.
“Perhaps only a racehorse itself could tell us whether it was fouled during a race. …See Jay Livingston & Ray Evans, ‘Mr. Ed’ (1961) (‘Go right to the source and ask the horse. He’ll give you the answer that you’ll endorse.’),” Friday’s ruling states.
“But horses can’t speak, so the Commonwealth of Kentucky, similar to many other racing jurisdictions, has designated racing experts — the stewards, not the appointed members of the Commission or judges — to determine when a foul occurs in a horse race. It is not our place to second-guess that decision.”
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