The minority ownership entity of 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin has taken issue with a recent judge’s order transferring its management to a court-appointed receiver, saying it would ask for the action to be reconsidered and set aside.
An attorney representing Tandy LLC, a Kentucky company affiliated with jailed attorneys Shirley Cunningham Jr. and William Gallion and their Midnight Cry Stable, said July 3 Kentucky state judge Roger Crittenden didn’t have all of facts presented to him before signing the order.
Attorney Andre Regard told The Blood-Horse Crittenden signed the order July 1 in response to a motion filed June 27, and claimed the judge didn’t allow for a response from Tandy. Regard is representing Tandy in a Boone County civil case against Cunningham, Gallion, and others, where a $42-million judgment has already been entered on behalf of the attorneys’ former clients. The plaintiffs claim they were scammed out of at least $65 million in the prominent Fen-Phen class-action lawsuit.
“I didn’t get a copy of the motion until (July 1),” said Regard. “The judge never contacted us. He never asked us for a response.”
Speaking through a court official, Crittenden declined comment, saying he had made his feelings known in the order.
In the order, Crittenden turned over the management of assets in Tandy to an already-established interim receiver, saying the company had defied “the spirit” of previous orders. Midnight Cry Stable, which is the “doing business as” operation of Tandy, includes in its assets the 20% ownership of Curlin, multiple grade I winner Einstein, and other horses.
“In regards to mismanagement of the company, my clients have no idea what he is talking about,” said Regard. “There have been no misappropriation of funds.”
Regard said moneys from purse winnings have always been deposited into an account for Tandy, and bills have been paid from that entity. He claims the judge’s order suggests that Cunningham’s wife, Patricia, and Gallion’s girlfriend, Melissa Green, who recently have been designated as lessees of Tandy horses, have held funds inappropriately for their own use.
“There is an implication from the judge’s order that (purse winnings) have been stolen,” he said. “We need to get the message out from Tandy that all moneys earned by Tandy horses pursuant to any lease has been deposited into Tandy accounts.”
The Blood-Horse could not physically verify the deposits, but Regard claims nearly $300,000 in winnings alone were deposited into Tandy accounts in May, and he would present statements in future filings. He added that in lieu of reported licensing issues in New York and other states, changes have been made to the deposit procedure: Winnings are now being deposited directly with the receiver, including Tandy/Midnight Cry’s portion of the combined $779,000 earned by Curlin and Einstein when they ran 1-2 in the June 14 Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) at Churchill Downs.
Regard said he intends to file a motion July 8 asking the judge to reconsider the order and set it aside.
“To say (Tandy) has been mismanaged is off-base – they have interests in the number- one and -four horses in the country,” he said, mentioning rankings of Curlin and Einstein in National Thoroughbred Racing Association polls (Einstein is sixth in the most recent poll).
The majority owner of Curlin is Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables.
