Ziadie asks court to intercede in license renewal

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Brad Beilly, the attorney for trainer Kirk Ziadie, said he filed a petition for emergency relief with Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal on Wednesday after the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering declined to act on his client’s license renewal before his existing license expired at midnight on Tuesday.

Ziadie was forced to scratch his lone entrant on Wednesday’s program at Gulfstream Park, Rbandzmakeherdance, and transfer all horses in his barn to other licensed trainers due to the division’s position that the spring training champion was no longer licensed in the state.

“The relief we’re seeking is to declare his existing license actually did not expire, per Florida licensing statutes, due to the division’s failure to act on his new application,” said Beilly. “The emergency is he’s virtually out of business and could lose horses, owners, and the bonus he might earn from purses on Sunday’s Summit of Speed program and other races.”

Three horses formerly trained by Ziadie were entered for Sunday’s rich Summit of Speed program, including R Free Roll, who will be among the favorites in the Grade 2 Princess Rooney Handicap. All three were transferred to trainer Sally Mitchelhill.

“There is no specific time frame during which the court will review the situation,” said Beilly. “I view this act of the division as a de-facto suspension of his license without due process.”

According to Chelsea Eagle, spokeswoman for the Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, the division has 90 days from receipt of the renewal application to issue a decision. She said pursuant to Florida statutes, Ziadie’s current license expired June 30, and the division may “deny, suspend, revoke, or declare ineligible any occupational license if the applicant has violated the provisions of this chapter or the rules of the division governing the conduct of persons connected with racetracks and frontons.”

Ziadie had five violations for clenbuterol prior to 2013 and nine others pending, all of which he is contesting due to procedural violations regarding methods used to gather evidence for those violations.

Beilly alleges that the state is not only misinterpreting its own license statute when it comes to his client’s status but is singling him out by failing to renew his license in a timely manner when other trainers who had similar clenbuterol rulings during the same time period had no issues renewing their licenses.