Maximum Security owners forge on with Kentucky Derby appeal

Since federal prosecutors unveiled indictments alleging trainers, including Jason Servis, doped their horses and concealed use of performance-enhancing drugs, connections to horses defeated during Maximum Security’s career have spoken out in favor of reversing results.

Amid the chaos, it appears owners Gary and Mary West are forging on with their court battle to change the biggest decision of the colt’s career, the 2019 Kentucky Derby disqualification.

With the litigation now going on nine months, the Wests, who last May filed suit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, on March 6 continued the fight with a brief filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

This follows a motion to dismiss being granted by a judge last Nov. 15, when it was then decided that KHRC regulations “make clear that the disqualification is not subject to judicial review.”

“Defendants first seek to minimize the importance of Plaintiffs’ property interest by devaluing the magnitude of Plaintiffs’ accomplishment,” the recently filed brief reads. “From a group of more than 22,000 Thoroughbreds born the same year as Maximum Security, Plaintiffs are the only owners and breeders to have had their horse cross the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby.

“Defendants not only devalue Plaintiffs’ accomplishment, they also say that the disqualification of Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby is trivial — as if it is just another race.”

Attorneys for the Wests laid out four points for continuing to argue for placing Maximum Security atop the running order:

1. That the KHRC’s “no appeal” doesn’t supersede the Wests’ right to a judicial review.

2. That the stewards’ decision is open to a right to review.

3. That the Wests have “a constitutionally protected property interest” under the 14th Amendment in a potential Derby victory.

4. That the Wests have “a constitutionally protected liberty interest.”

The brief adds, “Defendants’ interpretations of the Commission’s regulations are all skewed to support their litigation position.”

Stewards Barbara Borden,“Butch” Becraft and Tyler Picklesimer, of course, made the decision to place Maximum Security 17th after a 22-minute review. The call made Maximum Security the first Derby winner ever disqualified for interference.

The Wests continue to argue that Tyler Gaffalione aboard War of Will, and not Maximum Security with jockey Luis Saez, is guilty starting a melee near the 5/16ths pole at Churchill Downs..

“The stewards disqualified the wrong horse,” the Wests' brief reads. “…Even if Maximum Security committed a foul (which he did not), it was a harmless foul that did not alter the finish of any horse in the Derby and, therefore, could not be a reason to disqualify Maximum Security.

“…But for the stewards’ nonfeasance and misfeasance, Maximum Security would have been declared the official winner, and Plaintiffs would have received the Derby purse, trophy, as well as the tangible and intangible benefits of owning and breeding a Derby winner.”

Since retired having survived a bout of laminitis, Country House, who never raced again, was elevated to a Derby victory. Stewards placed Maximum Security behind Long Range Toddy, the furthest finisher back with whom they deemed he interfered.

Three days after this brief was filed, the Wests, who campaign Maximum Security with his eventual stallion farm Coolmore, may have lost some momentum when their trainer Servis was named in two counts of a major sting against alleged cheaters in the racing industry.

Federal investigators detailed Servis’ use of the illegal substance SGF-1000, which they say contains “growth factors.” Tapped communications show Servis administering the drug to Maximum Security and hiding its use from a test in advance of his first race since the Derby, last June’s Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park.

The Pegasus marked the only race in which Maximum Security hasn’t crossed the wire first in his career. He went on to win the Haskell (G1) and Cigar Mile (G1) before voted 2019’s champion 3-year-old, then came back to win the Feb. 29 Saudi Cup, the inaugural $20 million race.

See the Wests’ legal brief in full below: