screw the insurers....

[Tony Soprano]

A landmark court action in the name of businessman and socialite Dickson Poon began yesterday in an attempt to hold the Hong Kong Jockey Club responsible for the loss of a thoroughbred horse he owned in a 1998 riding accident.
In what is a world first, Lloyd's insurers, using Mr Poon's name, are targeting the Jockey Club and the estate of female apprentice jockey Willy Kan Wai-yu after Mr Poon's horse, Harbour Master, was destroyed following a feature race at Sha Tin on May 3, 1998. The action seeks the amount the insurers paid out for the loss of the horse and unspecified damages for future loss of earnings.
Joseph Fok, SC, counsel for the Jockey Club and the estate of Kan, who died after a later racing accident, told the Court of First Instance yesterday the law had never been tested on this point and it could expose jockeys to lawsuits every time they rode a race.
Presently, jockeys owe a duty of care to each other when racing but that duty has never been extended to an owner whose horse is involved in the race.
To illustrate his case, Mr Fok pointed to a report in yesterday's South China Morning Post sports section which covered the pile-up in the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, in which eight cars were knocked out of the race after driver Ralf Schumacher ran up the back of fellow racer Rubens Barrichello's Ferrari.
"If you look at that [accident], does that then mean Fiat is entitled to sue Schumacher and say to him, 'You are liable for denting the fender of Mr Barrichello's [car]?' " he said.
Mr Fok also said racing was a sport in which the dangers were well known by both jockeys and owners. He said the law was more concerned with protecting human beings - jockeys - from one another than extending that protection to horses.
Anselmo Reyes, SC, counsel for Lloyd's, told Mr Justice William Stone that Kan, who was riding Winning Scene during the Cable TV Cup, recklessly rode into City Patrol twice on the first bend of the race track.
After the first bump, City Patrol's front leg bore down on Harbour Master's left forelock, severing the tendon, the court heard. Harbour Master finished last and was destroyed an hour after the race. Kan was suspended for five days for careless riding.
Kan died aged 20 in 1999 when she fell during a race and was trampled.
"The rider of Winning Scene owes a duty of care to Mr Poon, the owner of the horse, and that duty of care was breached and damage resulted," Mr Reyes said.
He said Harbour Master, which was trained by Patrick Biancone, bought for $600,000 and flown to Hong Kong for $75,000, was insured for 3.5 million francs ($3.6 million).
He also said Lloyd's was seeking an indemnification from the Jockey Club for loss of future earnings, as well as the insurance money it paid out for the horse.
In a statement issued last night, Mr Poon, the chairman of Dickson Concepts, stressed the court action had not been instigated by him but by his insurance underwriters for their own benefit.
The hearing continues in the Court of First Instance.

[hobbes]

He said Harbour Master, which was trained by Patrick Biancone, bought for $600,000 and flown to Hong Kong for $75,000, was insured for 3.5 million francs ($3.6 million).
why would the horse be insured for $3.6m ?? it seems to me no more rational than buying lottery tickets.
apart from that how can the lawsuit succeed ?? plus suing the estate of willy kan ?? presumably any assets would have long since been distributed.
BIZARRE.

[imaufo]

It sounds like one of those nightmare situations where the owners think they know everything.
Unfortunatly the courts etc know nothing about horse racing or how supremely difficult it is to ride a thoroughbred at speed in a race and have some resemblance of control.
If they win, then the racing industry will be slapping extra costs on to the owners, jockeys and trainers once again thorugh insurance levies, just like they did in Australia after Malcolm Johnston was sued by another jockey for causing injuries via negligant race riding ...and Malcolm had to pay big $$$ after he lost the case.
[ March 07, 2002: Message edited by: imaufo ]

[rubbintug]

Hobbes,
The horse was purchased for US$600,000
The SCMP news report failed to stipulate the US$
There have been quite a few errors in the SCMP lately.
A few days ago SCMP journo Felix Chan wrote an article about the betting tax in HK and the upcoming budget. He wrote the current betting tax/takeout is 14%
YEAH RIGHT! WE WISH...
In the letters to the editor yesterday, somebody complained about the traffic around Happy Valley on racedays and suggested they should hike up the betting tax to punish them. Or words to that effect.
Dunno how that even got a start in the paper. They must have had some space to fill

[masun]

If they win, then the racing industry will be slapping extra costs on to the owners, jockeys and trainers once again thorugh insurance levies
That's probably the whole idea. After all, it's not Dickson Poon who is suing the JC. Rather it's the insurer Lloyds, which paid Poon's claims, that's suing the JC.

[hobbes]

"When you choose your friends, don't be short-changed by choosing personality over character."
-W. Somerset Maugham

[the mad mafoo]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exonerated: The late Willy Kan did not deserve the extent of criticism directed at her act of careless riding, a judge ruled yesterday after dismissing the Lloyd's lawsuit.
An attempt by insurance giant Lloyd's to hold the Hong Kong Jockey Club and a rider liable for the loss of a valuable thoroughbred in a 1998 accident was yesterday dismissed by a judge.
Mr Justice William Stone also said the jockey at the centre of the case did not deserve the criticism heaped upon her riding.
The legal battle was launched after the death of Harbour Master as a result of an accident during the Cable TV Cup at Sha Tin on May 3, 1998. The horse was put down within an hour of the race after a tendon in its right foreleg was severed.
Lloyd's claimed the horse sustained the injury before the first bend of the 1,900-metre feature race after apprentice jockey Willy Kan Wai-yu, riding Winning Scene, recklessly cut across the field and caused a domino effect, in which Celestial Fortune's hoof clipped legs with Harbour Master.
Mr Justice Stone said the suggestion Kan's error of judgment was grounds to hold her and the Jockey Club liable for the accident was without merit.
"Horse racing is horse racing. It carries benefits and burdens for all who choose to be involved," he said.
In what was a world first, Lloyd's sought to establish that the jockey on the racetrack owed a duty of care to the owner. At present, a duty only exists between jockeys racing each other.
The action, which was launched in the name of the horse's owner, businessman Dickson Poon, aimed to recoup the US$600,000 (HK$4.6 million) value of the horse, as well as HK$75,713 for transport and quarantine costs and HK$162,352 for future loss of earnings.
But Mr Justice Stone ruled that a duty of care could only be established if a jockey's actions far exceeded the conduct normally exhibited in racing.
The judge also said horse owners must accept that their animal might be damaged as a result of the normal demands of racing.
At the centre of the six-day Court of First Instance hearing was the performance of Kan, who was suspended for careless riding after twice causing interference before the first bend of the track during the race.
Kan was killed one year later after sustaining fatal injuries during a race fall.
Mr Justice Stone said: "After reflecting upon the evidence and the stringent criticisms, I am in no doubt that [Kan] does not deserve the opprobrium which has been heaped upon her riding during this case."
He said there was a world of difference between the stewards ruling her a careless rider and a court finding her liable for the injuries to Harbour Master.
The judge also rejected Lloyd's contention that the horse suffered the injury before the first bend, saying the theory would "fly in the face" of evidence.
"I cannot and do not accept that Harbour Master could have continued to run smoothly and unimpaired for over 800 metres if indeed he had been injured in the first incident of interference prior to the first bend," he said.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club's solicitor, Robert Clark, said if Mr Justice Stone had found a jockey on the track did owe a duty of care to the owner in the stands, it would have potentially affected the manner in which stewards conducted racing inquiries. It would have also been at the forefront of jockeys' minds when racing, he said.
[ March 28, 2002: Message edited by: the mad mafoo ]

[hobbes]

great to see sanity and common sense prevailing in our courtrooms. sounds like a good judge.

[Horny Harry]

Can anyone get a copy of the letter printed re Olympic Express in Lowans racebook?

[baldric]

'Loss Of Use' issue dominates HKJC and HKROA Equine Insurance Seminar
24 April 2002
Hong Kong's position as the only racing jurisdiction in the world that allows Loss Of Use (LOU) insurance claims to be processed was the most contentious issue discussed at the April 22 Equine Insurance Seminar organised by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association.
Dr Keith Watkins, senior veterinary surgeon and head of the HKJC's veterinary department, opened the evening by stating that 1330 horses were in training throughout the 2000/01 season of which 951 (72% of the total population) were insured for all risks mortality, while 302 (23% of population) were also insured for LOU. Watkins said that the Jockey Club is not privy to claim details and was unable to state how many claims were made or successful.
In his paper, John Bovington, VP and Underwriting Manager of the Bloodstock Division of Lexington Insurance, told of the effect on the global insurance industry of the September 11 attacks last year. Although it is constantly being revised, the cost being paid by the reinsurance sector currently stands at around US$75 billion. Bovington said the industry had already been heading towards a crisis before September 11, but today's even harsher climate now demands profit from underwriters rather than mere investment income. Bloodstock rates that were in the past understated, he said, attracted several companies to the market, the vast majority of which have since have "gone bust" owing to substantial underwriting losses.
Lexington Insurance withdrew from the LOU market in July 2000 and twelve months later increased its mortality rates in order to deliver it greater profits. LOU claims were responsible for the company's biggest losses in Hong Kong and "did not make sense in underwriting terms," Bovington said, referring to issues that pertained uniquely to the HKJC's Rules of Racing, such as when a horse suffers two bleeding attacks in Hong Kong, it is compulsorily retired. The same horse, however, would be able to continue to race in the United States on medication. Therefore, injuries sustained which can lead to a claim are not necessarily career ending and that, understandably, is bad news for underwriters. "This is a very divisive issue and the wording for Loss Of Use claims has outstayed its welcome in its current bastardised form," Bovington summarised.
Nick Mills, a UK-based equine veterinarian and consultant on equine insurance claims, agreed that the LOU issue "contains many grey areas and it is worth our while improving it and offering a clearer definition of what is at stake. LOU is not pleasing anybody at present and we need to bring something together that is a workable solution to all parties."
However, Frederick Wai, President of the HKROA, accepted that each party in LOU cases have a grievance, he said that LOU is one risk that owners in Hong Kong are unified in their wish to be covered against it.
Earlier in the evening, Sheila Simison had dealt with the legal matters in equine insurance and stated that it is the owner's duty to notify the insurance company of conditions precedent to a claim. The trainer may often be the source of information on the horse, Simison said. But Tony Lau of Storfield Insurance Consultants, brokers to the HKROA, said that Hong Kong owners have little access to their horses and few have any knowledge of any current ailments and he suggested that it should rest with vets to inform the insurance companies of the condition of the horse.
"We are relying on second hand information and all we ever see is the bill," an owner said. "We never see the horse and trainers can be conservative with the truth when it comes to informing us of real problems. How do we process claims in such a climate?" he asked.
Hong Kong Jockey Club veterinarian Peter Schiff said: "We need to have owners asking the questions and transparency is required from trainers. Vets are only too happy to help an owner out if he asks us why his horse is not running or if there is something wrong with it."
Schiff had earlier spoken of the examination of racehorses for certification and claim support. He dealt with problems associated with insurance examinations whereby vets are ethically and legally responsible to declare all significant findings of a horse's history otherwise the policy would be cancelled. He said that it is not the duty of HKJC vets to decide on the suitability of a claim but to help process that claim. Schiff also suggested that owners consider purchasing travel insurance for their horses now that international racing is much more to the fore.