After more than 10 years, Carlo Vaccarezza and his wife look likely to lose a $1.06 million veterinary malpractice claim against Dr. Vince Baker after a recently concluded retrial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The court's decision is not final, but a March 21 tentative ruling issued by Judge Gail Killefer finds the Vaccarezzas failed to meet their burden of proving Baker's malpractice led to monetary damages. A hearing is set before Killefer April 9 when attorneys can argue for and against her tentative ruling.
Little Alexis, a filly owned by Carlo and Priscilla Vaccarezza and trained by Carlo, was entered in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita Park, and she was scheduled to be auctioned at Fasig-Tipton's The November Sale two days after the race. Complications began two days before the race when Baker had difficulty administering medications in the filly's left jugular vein. By the next morning she was off her feed, had an elevated temperature, and had a noticeable bump where Baker had administered the shot.
Her temperature returned to normal quickly and the bump subsided, but resulting hematology testing was abnormal, something Baker did not disclose to the Vaccarezzas. He pronounced Little Alexis was fit to run.
She performed poorly, finishing ninth in the race, and when her temperature spiked again she was unable to be flown to Kentucky for the auction.
At the first trial a jury found Baker committed veterinary malpractice by not disclosing the abnormal hematology testing to the Vaccarezzas and awarded $1.06 million in damages, the difference between a $1.5 million value the Vacarezzas placed on Little Alexis before Breeders' Cup and $440,000, the amount Little Alexis fetched at the Fasig-Tipton November sale about a year later. After Little Alexis had returned to racing in 2015, she competed in four ungraded races at Gulfstream Park April through June, winning the Barely Even Handicap.
A series of events led to the second trial. The original trial judge vacated the jury verdict, finding requisite proof of malpractice had not been made. On appeal that ruling was overturned but the appellate court also ruled that the Vaccarezza's proof of damages was not sufficient.
"The proper measure of damages was the depreciation in Little Alexis’s value caused by Baker’s negligent care," the appellate court wrote. "The Vaccarezzas evidence showed, at most, Baker’s malpractice caused a fever that temporarily prevented Little Alexis from flying to Kentucky for the scheduled auction, but the Vaccarezzas did not present substantial evidence the malpractice caused any long-term injuries that depreciated Little Alexis’s value by over $1 million.”
At the just-concluded second trial attorneys agreed to a bench trial and waived a jury. With Baker's malpractice already established at the first trial, the only issue in the second one was damages. Killefer, the new trial judge, essentially made the same determination reached by the appellate court.
"The question before this court is what harm was caused by Dr. Baker’s failure to disclose the abnormal blood test results to Plaintiff Carlo," Killefer wrote. "Even if this court were to agree that if Plaintiff Carlo had known of the blood test results, he likely would have scratched Little Alexis from racing in the Breeder’s Cup, the question remains: what harm was caused to Plaintiffs from Little Alexis racing on November 1, 2014?"
Killefer wrote that the evidence does not support a finding that Baker's failure to disclose the abnormal hematology led to a diminution in value to Little Alexis.
"Although it is true the filly had an elevated fever after the race that prevented Dr. Baker from issuing a health certificate for her travel on November 2, 2014 (to the sale), the evidence does not support the finding that Dr. Baker’s failure to disclose the abnormal blood test results was a substantial factor in causing the condition to Little Alexis’s left-side neck. No witness testified that the thrombosis, phlebitis, and cellulitis on Little Alexis’s left-side neck was caused by her racing. No witness testified that, to a reasonable medical probability, thrombophlebitis permanently prevented Little Alexis from performing well," Killefer wrote.
After Little Alexis made it back to Kentucky, she breezed in late November and was put up for the winter. When she returned to the races a year later, the level of her performance remained in decline, and she was eventually sold as a broodmare for $440,000. Killefer's ruling, if she does not change her mind, will leave it at that.
The legal case has been a long process. The lawsuit was filed in 2015. It was delayed numerous times, including after the occurrence of Hurricane Irma in South Florida, where the Vaccarezzas resided at the time; shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, where their two sons were students and not injured; and government restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case was initially tried by jury in February 2022.
