 |
| SANTA ANITA OFFICIALS CLAIM THE MAIN TRACK WAS PLAGUED THIS WINTER BY DRAINAGE PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CUSHION TRACK SURFACE |
| bEN |
by Larry Stewart
Santa Anita Park’s lawsuit against Cushion Track which alleged that the England-based company installed a faulty synthetic surface last year is proceeding on schedule, with the defendant facing a November 10 deadline to respond to charges.
“We won’t know what their real defense is until then,” said Frank DeMarco, general counsel for Los Angeles Turf Club Inc., which operates the racetrack.
DeMarco said on Thursday that Cushion Track’s initial response in August was to seek dismissal of the lawsuit on the grounds that Cushion Track was not under the jurisdiction of United States courts because it does minimal business in this country.
Los Angeles-based U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper denied the dismissal request on October 20, according to DeMarco.
Cushion Track, under the guidance of technical director Paul Harper, installed a synthetic track at Santa Anita in the summer of 2007 at a cost of nearly $11-million. Because of a drainage problem, Santa Anita lost an unprecedented 11 racing days during heavy rains in January and February, and only three of those lost days were made up.
Pro Ride, an Australian company owned by Ian Pearse, came in and made repairs, then completely overhauled the track during the summer. The new Pro Ride track got mostly favorable reviews during the recently concluded Oak Tree meeting, which included the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on October 24-25.
The lawsuit against Cushion Track names Harper and Philip Bond, an executive with parent company Equestrian Surfaces, as defendants. DeMarco said LATC is seeking a minimum of $8.4-million in damages, the cost of repairing what it claims was a faulty track.
Specific charges against Cushion Track include breach of contract, breach of warranties, and fraud. A claim of negligence by LATC was denied by Judge Cooper.
DeMarco said additional damages above and beyond the $8.4-million include revenue that was lost due the cancellation of race days.
.
