Judge upholds Churchill's right to ban Broberg

A Louisiana state judge has ruled that Churchill Downs Inc. had the right to exclude the trainer Karl Broberg from its Fair Grounds racetrack last year, overruling an argument from the state’s racing commission that it alone had the power to deny licensees access to a track’s grounds.

The ruling from Judge Robin Giarrusso of the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans affirms a right that has been generally upheld in federal and state courts over the power of private companies to exclude people from their businesses. Churchill Downs Inc. banned Broberg indefinitely from all of its racetracks last year, alleging that he failed to provide proper veterinary care to an injured horse.

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Although Broberg was stabled at Churchill’s Louisville property at the time the ban was issued, he moved his operation to Fair Grounds in New Orleans, La., in the fall. The state racing commission then claimed that Broberg had a valid racing license and that Churchill’s ban was unenforceable without racing commission approval.

Churchill sued the racing commission in response, and Giarusso’s ruling explicitly upheld that Churchill had the right to exclude individuals from its tracks in the state, regardless of the commission’s position. She also ordered that the case be “remanded to the stewards” at Fair Grounds, who have scheduled a hearing for Thursday.

Because of the opinion of the racing commission, Broberg – who has denied that the horse in question did not receive proper care – raced at Fair Grounds during its winter meet spanning late 2021 and early 2022. He won three races from 40 starts during the meet, with six seconds and four thirds.

Courts have generally held that licensees do not have broad due-process protections when facing exclusion from private companies, provided that the exclusion is not based on protected factors, such as age, race, or sex. Churchill has more aggressively asserted that right over the past several years, most notably in its decision to ban Bob Baffert from its tracks through the 2023 Kentucky Derby after the trainer’s Medina Spirit tested positive for a regulated medication in the 2021 Derby.

Baffert filed a lawsuit against Churchill Downs early in 2022 challenging the ban, but the lawsuit was voluntarily withdrawn by Baffert’s legal team shortly after being filed. At the time, Baffert’s attorneys were attempting to conduct negotiations with Churchill officials over a lifting of the ban.

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