Top US Attorney, Lisa Bloom - “It’s only women’s lives. Their very lives. Why should that interfere with horse racing by one of the richest men in the world?
We will be back.“
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is not going to take any action against the royal, multi-billionaire owner of this year’s Kentucky Derby favorite for allegedly kidnapping his daughter a few years ago.
In short, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum — ruler of Dubai, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates — and his Godolphin racing operation will be allowed to race the unbeaten Essential Quality, now at 2-1 odds. Officials told the Herald-Leader that the sheikh would not be in attendance on Saturday, (although there are plenty of VIP spots in Churchill Downs where he could go unseen).
A group of lawyers from the University of Louisville filed the complaint on Wednesday asking to have Sheikh Mohammed and his horses barred from Churchill Downs to protest his alleged treatment of his daughter, Princess Latifa, who is apparently being held against her will in Dubai after being seized on a boat off the coast of India in 2018 as she tried to escape. Another daughter, Princess Shamsa, tried to escape in England before being caught and has been little heard of since. In February, Princess Latifa released a video saying she feared for her life; last month the United Nations asked the Emirates for proof of life.
Los Angeles civil rights attorney Lisa Bloom, UofL law professor Sam Marcosson, and the U of L Human Rights Advocacy Project filed the same complaint in 2019, but the Racing Commission rejected it because it was based on press reports. This time, however, the lawyers had more concrete evidence — last year, a British court had found evidence of both kidnappings during wardship proceedings for Princess Haya, Sheikh’s Mohammed’s ex-wife, who was trying to keep her two children with the Sheikh in England.
But apparently, it was not enough.
“In consultation with counsel, and according to Kentucky regulations, the KHRC has determined the complaint does not articulate a violation of KHRC regulations,” was the brief statement issued by Executive Director Marc Guilfoyle on Thursday night.
On Thursday night, Marcosson called the decision “deeply wrong” and is “simply untenable in light of prior Commission decisions finding that it has the authority to bar individuals based on misconduct that is far less egregious than Sheikh Mohammed’s actions in kidnapping and holding his daughter, Princess Latifa, in violation of international law and human rights ... The message of today’s decision is that if someone is rich and powerful enough, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission will give them a free pass from enforcement of our law.”