A complaint filed in Jefferson Circuit Court by Gray V Train Racing and Westbrook Stables, the respective owner and breeder of Hold My Bourbon, alleges Machado breached his contract and showed negligence as a licensed professional jockey by failing to ride Hold My Bourbon to the finish line “with full effort” in the Nov. 28 allowance race at Churchill Downs
Jockeys’ Guild2 hours ago
The Jockeys’ Guild released the following statement one day after news broke of a lawsuit against jockey Luan Machado for easing up on his mount in a Nov. 28 race at Churchill Downs:
“The Jockeys’ Guild became aware on Thursday, February 27, 2025, of a lawsuit filed in Jefferson Circuit Court in the Commonwealth of Kentucky by Gray V Train Racing, LLC and Westbrook Stables, LLC against jockey Luan Machado. The lawsuit purports to assert claims against Mr. Machado for breach of contract and negligence. The lawsuit arises out of Mr. Machado’s actions at Churchill Downs on Nov. 28, 2024 – specifically, the claim that Mr. Machado prematurely eased up on his mount.
“The claims asserted against Mr. Machado in the lawsuit are utterly baseless. They are also dangerous. The Kentucky legislature has entrusted the stewards of the Kentucky Horse Racing & Gaming Corporation with responsibility for determining if there has been a violation of the racing rules. The stewards made such a determination here and imposed a fine and suspension on Mr. Machado, which he paid and has served.
“There is absolutely no basis for private parties to try to undermine the stewards’ statutorily-entrusted decision by supplanting it with their own judgment as to what the appropriate penalty should be.
“The Guild stands ready to vigorously assist Mr. Machado in defending against this frivolous suit.”
The complaint filed in Jefferson Circuit Court by Gray V Train Racing and Westbrook Stables, the respective owner and breeder of Hold My Bourbon, alleges Machado breached his contract and showed negligence as a licensed professional jockey by failing to ride Hold My Bourbon to the finish line “with full effort” in the Nov. 28 allowance race. The then 3-year-old son of Anchor Down finished second to Lightline, beaten a neck, after holding a 2 1/2-length advantage with a furlong remaining in the one-mile race on the Churchill Downs main track. Machado appeared to ease up on his mount approaching the finish and patted Hold My Bourbon on the neck just before reaching the wire.
A Nov. 30 stewards ruling sanctioned Machado “for easing up on his mount approaching the finish without adequate cause (2nd offense).” The veteran rider received a three-day suspension and $2,500 fine one month earlier after standing up at the sixteenth pole aboard Ultimate Strike at Keeneland, blowing a 5 1/2-length lead with an eighth of a mile to go and finishing second. Stewards called that incident an “error in judgment.” Keeneland uses two finish lines for its dirt races around two turns; one at the sixteenth pole for 1 1/16-mile races and the regular finish line for 1 1/8-mile races. Ultimate Strike’s race was 1 1/8 miles.
The plaintiffs (Angela Lewis is the registered agent for Gray V Train Racing and Todd and Angela Lewis are the registered agents for Westbrook Stables, both based in Versailles, Ky.) say Machado’s actions cost them $47,560 in lost purse money and $3,000 in Kentucky Thoroughbred Breeders Incentive Funds. The race offered a purse of $130,644, with $72,960 to the winner and $25,400 to the second-place finisher. They also allege they have suffered unliquidated damages and other “consequential damages,” suggesting that “the value of (Hold My Bourbon) and the value of Westbrook’s business would have increased had HMB won the race.”
