The owners of seven Thoroughbreds killed or injured in a Mar. 25, 2024, accident on the Bluegrass Parkway when a trailer driver allegedly fell asleep at the wheel and careened off the road while en route from Fair Grounds to Keeneland are suing the equine transport company and the driver in federal court, seeking “not less than” $3 million in compensatory damages and a separate amount in punitive damages that the plaintiffs want decided at a trial.
The collective owners of the three horses that perished and the four that were hurt–all from the barn of trainer Eddie Kenneally–stated in their complaint that the lawsuit “arises from the negligence, fraud and gross breaches and derelictions” of the defendants, Creech Horse Transportation, Inc. (a Missouri corporation with an office in Kentucky) and its employee driver, Guy Landmeier.
The complaint, which was filed Sept. 30 in a Kentucky state court but was removed to United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky at Louisville) Oct. 24 because it is a civil action against an interstate motor carrier involving a controversy exceeding $10,000, alleges that Landmeier had been driving for more than 11 hours at the time of the accident; that he had not taken a required 10-consecutive-hour break before his shift, and that Creech management had “impliedly and explicitly represented” that the shipping would be shared by two drivers who would be following all relevant rules and laws…