e = mc scratched?

Tweet Even though he technically did not scratch, word is, Einstein, owned by William Gallion and Shirley A. Cunningham of Midnight Cry Stables, the spectacular turf horse withdrew from the $400K Manhattan Handicap (the precursor to the Belmont Stakes) on Saturday apparently due to the lack of a valid racing license. This is the same ownership group that finds itself in jail and in ownership limbo of Curlin (the premier active race horse today).

According to the NTRA website “Gallion and Cunningham had law licenses suspended in August 2006 by the Kentucky Supreme Court pending the outcome of an investigation by the Kentucky Bar Association into possible misconduct in the class-action fen-phen (anti-obesity medications) lawsuit that they won in 2001 and which resulted in a $200 million settlement for 400 clients. A civil suit against Gallion, Cunningham and a third lawyer resulted in a $42 million (plus $20.1 million in interest) judgment against them, and in August, a judge ordered the three men jailed pending a hearing for the lawyers to provide financial reports regarding how the settlement money was distributed ... Both men are currently incarcerated at the Boone County, Kentucky jail... In the meantime, a motion has been filed on behalf of 418 plaintiffs to seek control of the 20 percent of Curlin that Midnight Cry owns.”

The Midnight Cry saga continues and looks like it has affected race day on Saturday, where thousands had expected the wonder horse Einstein to be performing in race ten. Einstein has "shown he is one of the top long-distance turf horses in the country, having won the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf at 1 3/8 miles this year and in 2006 when that race was contested at 1 7/16 miles. He also can keep pace with some of the nation's elite milers, as he did in finishing second to Breeders' Cup Mile winner Kip Deville in the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland on April 11." It's just a shame we won't be able to see him on Saturday.