The First District Court of Appeal earlier this week concluded that Florida breeders have a legal right to challenge the provisions of an annual plan that outlines the receipts and distribution of breeders' awards funds. In so doing, the court overturned a 2016 decision by Administrative Law Judge Bruce McKibben, who had ruled that Belinda Kitos' Southern Cross Farm had no legal standing to challenge any provisions of the plan submitted by the FTBOA as administrator of the awards program to the Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering.

    The Blood-Horse.com account of the situation drew a great many comments from horsemen, pro and con, although many more of the opinions stated were in favor of Mrs. Kitos and her attorney, David Romanik. But it's not the question of legality I want to address here, but the comments made by someone who signed on with the name "concerned Florida horseman."

    "David Romanik is a self-serving attorney who is using Mrs. Kitos to sue the only organization that is looking out for the best interests of the breeders in Florida," concerned Florida horseman said. "He is a crook that is strong arming his way into a regulated industry (Gaming) that is incredibly hard to get into. The multitude of lawsuits that Mr. Romanik has filed on behalf of Mrs. Kitos and his other clients against the FTBOA have been proven to be frivolous and without merit and are costing the breeders many thousands of dollars."

    First of all, let it be known that nobody "uses" Belinda Kitos. Second, it is apparent that CFH knows little about David Romanik's background or he (or she) would never have written the above nonsense. For the record, David's father, Leonard, was the attorney for Gulfstream Park in all the years when it was owned first by James Donn Sr. and then by James Donn Jr., and David was right there working alongside his father.

    Later, David worked in an important legal and supervisory capacity for both John Brunetti at Hialeah Park and Frank Stronach at Gulfstream. Along the way, he has participated in the writing and implementing of a great many of the pari-mutuel statutes currently on the books in Florida. He knows the laws backwards and forward, and that is why he was able to keep going on this issue and get it overturned by the First District Court.

    Going one step further, from the racing and breeding side, David purchased Caltech from the late David Goldman and all the son of Explosive Bid accomplished was to become a multiple graded stakes-winner in the 1980s, capturing the Gr. I Washington D. C. International and the Gr. III Lawrence Realization, while earning $726,944. Caltech led every step of the way into the stretch before tiring late to finish fifth in the 1989 Breeders' Cup Turf at Gulfstream. 

    So, it is ludicrous for CFH to call Romanik a crook and trying to strong arm his way into a regulated industry . . . he has been a major part of this industry for more than four decades. This isn't Trump and the stupidity of his name-calling and fake news. CFH needs to get his facts straight before making a fool of himself.   

     

comments powered by Disqus