{"id":29266,"date":"2015-06-05T12:22:10","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T19:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=29266"},"modified":"2015-06-05T12:22:45","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T19:22:45","slug":"gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/","title":{"rendered":"Gambling Lawsuit Dismissed Against American Pharoah Owner"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ahmed
American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat was relieved to have a lawsuit over gambling debts dismissed in federal court. (Image: oddsshark.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

American Pharoah will run for horse racing\u2019s first Triple Crown in 37 years on Saturday, and his owner will be able to enjoy it without the fear of a major lawsuit hanging over the proceedings.<\/p>\n

A federal judge dismissed a $1.65 million gambling lawsuit against Ahmed Zayat, one that accused him of having run up those debts by betting on sports through an offshore casino.<\/p>\n

Zayat said that the lawsuit, brought by Howard Rubinsky, was \u201ca fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s total fiction,\u201d Zayat said. \u201cIt\u2019s a total lie. It is a case of blackmail by a criminal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statute of Limitations Exceeded<\/b><\/h2>\n

Those comments landed Zayat<\/a> with a libel suit on top of the gambling claim. But it seems as though Zayat was ultimately vindicated.<\/p>\n

According to US District Judge William J. Martini, Rubinsky\u2019s claim dated back to 2005, when he first hired an investigator and attorney in an attempt to recover the debt. That meant that the lawsuit fell outside of the six-year statute of limitations for the case in New Jersey.<\/p>\n

Rubinsky had hoped that Martini would rule that the case had originated in 2008, when Rubinsky said he had received text messages from Zayat promising to repay the money he owed.<\/p>\n

However, Martini ruled that it was clear in those text messages that Zayat was saying that he didn\u2019t owe any money to Rubinsky or any other party.<\/p>\n

\u201cJustice always prevails,\u201d Zayat told The Associated Press. \u201cI have said before these are all lies from A to Z. And the judge ruled in our favor. Could not have happened at a better time.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to Rubinsky, he advanced Zayat $2 million in credit, and that Zayat owed that full amount to him as of 2005. Since then, he said, Zayat had paid back some of the money, but still owed more than $1.6 million.<\/p>\n

Rubinsky\u2019s attorney, Joseph Bainton, said that they are still considering their options in regards to the case, which could include filing an appeal with the 3rd<\/sup> US Circuit Court of Appeals.<\/p>\n

American Pharoah One Win from Triple Crown<\/b><\/h2>\n

For Zayat, having the lawsuit dismissed may finally allow him to focus on the excitement of Saturday\u2019s Belmont Stakes. In an interview with ESPN.com earlier in the week, he said that the lawsuit was hurting him physically and mentally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve lost seven pounds this week,\u201d Zayat said. \u201cIt\u2019s eating at me. I\u2019m very saddened and it\u2019s despicable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zayat\u2019s son, Justin, told ESPN.com that it was unfortunate that the Triple Crown<\/a> run probably renewed Rubinsky\u2019s efforts to pursue the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to see my dad go through stuff like this,\u201d he said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t deserve this. If he didn\u2019t own American Pharoah, none of it would be going on.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But with the lawsuit now in the rearview mirror, the Zayats can join the rest of the horse racing world in focusing on American Pharoah\u2019s bid to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, when Affirmed last pulled off the accomplishment.<\/p>\n

And while many horses have tried and failed since then, American Pharoah is seen as a strong favorite to pull it off.<\/p>\n

The Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner enters the Belmont as a 3-5 favorite, thought the longer race has tripped up many potential Triple Crown winners in recent years.<\/p>\n

His biggest challengers in the eight-horse field could be Frosted, who finished fourth at the Kentucky Derby and is listed at 5-1, and Materiality, at 6-1, who finished sixth at the Derby.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Pharoah will run for horse racing\u2019s first Triple Crown in 37 years on Saturday, and his owner will be able to enjoy it without the fear of a major lawsuit hanging over the proceedings. A federal judge dismissed a $1.65 million gambling lawsuit against Ahmed Zayat, one that accused him of having run up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":29267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,13,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGambling Lawsuit Dismissed Against American Pharoah Owner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat will be able to enjoy his horse\u2019s bid for immortality on Saturday, after a lawsuit against him was dismissed in federal court.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gambling Lawsuit Dismissed Against American Pharoah Owner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat will be able to enjoy his horse\u2019s bid for immortality on Saturday, after a lawsuit against him was dismissed in federal court.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-05T19:22:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-05T19:22:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ahmed_zayat.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"375\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/\",\"name\":\"Gambling Lawsuit Dismissed Against American Pharoah Owner\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ahmed_zayat.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-05T19:22:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-05T19:22:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat will be able to enjoy his horse\u2019s bid for immortality on Saturday, after a lawsuit against him was dismissed in federal court.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambling-lawsuit-dismissed-against-american-pharoah-owner\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ahmed_zayat.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ahmed_zayat.jpg\",\"width\":610,\"height\":375,\"caption\":\"American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat was relieved to have a lawsuit over gambling debts dismissed in federal court. 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