Jamgotchian seeks judgment against Kentucky racing commission

Jerry Jamgotchian, a California horse owner, has filed a motion for summary judgment in a Kentucky court to invalidate a state rule limiting the abilities of owners to race claimed horses.

The motion challenges a rule that restricts a horse from being entered in a race that is held at any meet other than the meet where the horse was claimed. Jamgotchian had earlier filed a challenge to the rule in Franklin Circuit Court, and the judge in the case, Philip Shepherd, ruled during a recent status conference that Jamgotchian should be permitted to file the motion for summary judgment. The motion argues that the court should immediately strike down the rule, calling it a violation of the Constitution's commerce clause.

According to Jamgotchian's attorney, Richard Getty, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will be given until Nov. 12 to file a response to the motion for summary judgment. Jamgotchian will then have until Nov. 28 to file his own response to the commission's filing.

Jamgotchian filed the initial challenge against the racing commission for enforcing the rule on a horse he claimed in May at Churchill Downs. Jamgotchian had attempted to enter the claimed horse in a race in Pennsylvania, but was blocked by Kentucky racing officials.

In 2009, Jamgotchian challenged a similar restriction in California. The rule was changed prior to the suit going to court.