Jockey Club Wants Stallion Cap Suit Dismissed

On March 29, The Jockey Club asked the United States District Court for the Easter District of Kentucky to dismiss litigation filed by Spendthrift Farm, Ashford Stud (Coolmore), and Three Chimneys Farm relating to their proposed stallion cap, reports bloodhorse.com. The Jockey Club argued that "any injury to plaintiffs' alleged future lost stud fees as a result of the stallion cap is entirely speculative and not 'certainly impending.' The farms have not and cannot point to a single yearling, weanling, or foal that they own or intend to purchase and predict with any accuracy that that horse will become such a popular stallion that, absent the stallion cap, it could have drawn upwards of 140 covers." Further, The Jockey Club contends that it has the legal standing to limit a stallion's foal crop. In 2007, 5,894 mares (9.5% of the total) were bred by stallions who covered more than 140 mares. By 2019, 7,415 mares (27% of the total) were covered by stallions with books of more than 140, a threefold increase, according to The Jockey Club's report of mares bred statistics.