Judge rules in favor of Lanes's End in Lemon Drop Kid case

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A federal judge in Lexington has declined to alter a November ruling in favor of Lane’s End Stallions in a lawsuit that Jerry Jamgotchian’s KNC Investments filed over a share in the stallion Lemon Drop Kid.

In an opinion filed Feb. 9, U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer Coffman denied KNC’s contention that the court had made “an error of law” in its original judgment. “KNC’s arguments that the court made an error of law, however, are merely the same arguments it offered in favor of its interpretation of the (syndicate) agreement in its prior briefs, and the newly discovered evidence it offers was not unavailable to it at the time of the original briefings,” Coffman wrote. “Therefore, the court will deny the motion.”

Jamgotchian sued Lane’s End last March, alleging that the Versailles, Ky., stallion operation had violated its duties as syndicate manager by denying him full and complete access to syndicate and shareholder records. Jamgotchian is the principal in KNC Investments, which had purchased a share in Lane’s End stallion Lemon Drop Kid for $350,000.

Coffman ruled in favor of Lane’s End in November, granting summary judgment to the farm on parts of KNC’s claim and dismissing the remainder of the suit.

In that ruling, Coffman agreed with Lane’s End that it had complied with the syndicate agreement by providing Jamgotchian with documents redacted to hide his fellow syndicate members’ identities, because the farm had polled syndicate members, who voted 39-1 against that disclosure.

Jamgotchian’s attorney, Richard Getty, had indicated in press reports after the November ruling that his client would likely appeal to the Sixth Court of Appeals if Coffman did not amend the ruling.