Owner to sue organisers if juvenile is denied chance to make debut

An owner is threatening legal action against the Breeders’ Cup organisers if they deny his two-year-old filly the chance to make her debut at Del Mar next month.

Ron Paolucci paid $30,000 on Monday to pre-enter the unraced Heavenhasmynikki in the Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile Fillies Turf, but says he has since been informed by Breeders' Cup Limited that the entry would not be accepted.

The case bears some similarities to the attempts made by Richard Aylward to run 1,000-1 outsider Diore Lia in the Epsom Derby this year, before she missed the race through injury.

Paolucci said: “They told me, ‘We don’t think you should run a first-time starter in a championship event.’ She’s sound, extremely talented, and this is a bad group of two-year-old fillies. Why not take a chance to make a lifetime score?”

Pointing out that there are no rules preventing Heavenhasmynikki running if she makes it into the field for either race, Paolucci, quoted on drf.com, added: “I’m definitely going to try and sue them.”

Past success

Paolucci has enjoyed Breeders’ Cup success in the past, with Ria Antonia capturing the 2013 Juvenile Fillies after first-past-the-post She’s A Tiger was disqualified.

The owner has been refused an entry already this year when stewards at Saratoga prevented Cautious Giant from running in the Woodward Stakes as they did not feel the horse was there to win, but instead was running merely as a pacesetter for Paolucci's better-fancied runner War Story.

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