Report: Judge orders lawyers to file arguments in Justify lawsuit

A legal push to disqualify 2018 Triple Crown champion Justify as the winner of that year’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby moved forward Friday when a California judge told lawyers to make verbal arguments Dec. 1.

According to Dick Downey’s report at BloodHorse, Los Angeles Superior court judge Mitchell Beckloff also ordered attorneys to file paperwork by Oct. 30 in the lawsuit. It was brought by trainer Mick Ruis after Justify was revealed to have tested positive for scopolamine before the April 17, 2018, running of the Santa Anita Derby.

Ruis’s colt Bolt d’Oro finished second to Justify in the race that was a qualifier for the Kentucky Derby. If Justify had not finished first or second in the Santa Anita Derby, he would not have been able to race in the Derby and, therefore, go on to win the Triple Crown.

In his lawsuit, Ruis said California Horse Racing Board stewards should have disqualified Justify and should have acted quickly to do so. At first the CHRB did not reveal the positive test, which ultimately came to light in a New York Times report 16 months later.

Justify’s trainer Bob Baffert said a batch of feed contaminated by jimsonweed was to blame for the scopolamine positive and that horses in other barns also were affected. In a closed-door session in August 2018, the CHRB agreed, voting unanimously to drop the case against Baffert.

As reported by BloodHorse, this is the second time Beckloff is hearing this case. In May he said CHRB stewards were so unclear in their call not to disqualify Justify, he could not rule on the lawsuit. He called for a further explanation to demonstrate whether stewards broke state law with their decision.

“There can be no question the facts found by the stewards required Justify to be disqualified,” Beckloff wrote in May, further saying “the court cannot supply its own reasoning for a decision.”