Glen Hill Farm, LLC v. California Horse Racing Board

The underlying dispute involves whether Medici Code, the horse who won the 2007 Del Mar Derby, should be disqualified because he cheated to meet the conditions for entry into the race. The trial court granted the petition for a writ of mandate brought by Glen Hill Farm, LLC, owner of the second-place horse, and ordered the California Horse Racing Board (Board) “to exercise its discretion as to whether or not the purse for the Del Mar Derby . . . should be redistributed and, if so, to whom such redistribution should be made.” We reverse.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BELOW

In order to qualify for the 2007 Del Mar Derby a horse had to be three years old, have won, placed or showed in graded or group stakes races during the meet and accumulated a certain amount of earnings.

Medici Code finished second in the Oceanside Stakes at Del Mar on July 18, 2007. In a postrace blood and urine test, however, he tested positive for a substance, Clenbuterol, in excess of the authorized level. The laboratory notified the Board of this test result on July 30, 2007. The Board notified Medici Code’s owners and trainer of this test result sometime between July 30, 2007, and August 9, 2007, the day…