Belmont Stakes 2015: American Pharoah’s owner sued

Ahmed Zayat, the owner of American Pharoah, is being sued by a man who says he fronted Zayat money for gambling purposes, according to the Associated Press. Howard Rubinsky is the man who filed the lawsuit in March 2014, and Zayat asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit, calling it a “total lie,” according to the report.

Rubinsky’s lawsuit alleges he advanced Zayat credit at multiple casinos, with the debt getting as high as $2 million by the end of 2005. Some of that has been paid back, according to Rubinsky, but he is still claiming Zayat owes him $1.65 million.

“It’s a fraud. It’s a scam from A to Z,” Zayat said in the report, “It’s total fiction. It’s a total lie.” Zayat claims it is nothing more than blackmail, and in his motion to dismiss said that Rubinsky has been convicted of gambling offenses and money laundering. That wouldn’t preclude the events described in the lawsuit from happening, but they are the standard attack of character you always see in these situations.

Zayat’s motion also says the complaint was filed beyond the six-year statute of limitations, and that there is no proof of any kind of contract. The lawsuit claims Zayat Stables started having financial troubles in 2008, but that he “continued to promise to pay Rubinsky his gambling debt.”

American Pharoah was victorious in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes, once again fueling hope that we could see a new Triple Crown winner. There have only been 11 Triple Crown winners in history, and the last horse to accomplish the feat was Affirmed back in 1978.