GULFSTREAM PARK RACING ASSOCIATION, INC. v. Gold Spur Stable, Inc.

820 So. 2d 957, 2002 WL 1021736
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedMay 22, 2002
Docket4D01-359
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 820 So. 2d 957 (GULFSTREAM PARK RACING ASSOCIATION, INC. v. Gold Spur Stable, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
GULFSTREAM PARK RACING ASSOCIATION, INC. v. Gold Spur Stable, Inc., 820 So. 2d 957, 2002 WL 1021736 (Fla. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

820 So.2d 957 (2002)

GULFSTREAM PARK RACING ASSOCIATION, INC., Appellant,
v.
GOLD SPUR STABLE, INC., a New Jersey corporation, Agricultural Insurance Company, a foreign corporation, as subrogee of Gold Spur Stable, Inc., a New Jersey corporation, and John C. Kimmel, Appellees.

No. 4D01-359.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

May 22, 2002.
Rehearing Denied July 25, 2002.

*958 Caryn L. Bellus of Kubicki Draper, Miami, for appellant.

Richard A. Sherman and Rosemary B. Wilder of Law Offices of Richard A. Sherman, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, and Joseph M. Loughren of Loughren & Doyle, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for Appellee—John C. Kimmel.

TAYLOR, J.

Gulfstream Park Racing Association, Inc. (Gulfstream) appeals a trial court order granting summary judgment in favor of third-party defendant and appellee, John C. Kimmel (Dr. Kimmel). This appeal arises from an incident wherein a thoroughbred horse, named Devil's Cup, fractured a bone in his right front leg while racing on the turf course at Gulfstream Park. After several months of medical care, the horse was put down. The *959 owner of the horse, Gold Spur Stable, Inc. (Gold Spur), sued Gulfstream, alleging negligence in the design, maintenance, and operation of the track and failure to warn Gold Spur of any dangerous conditions.

Gulfstream denied any negligence and affirmatively asserted that Gold Spur was comparatively negligent. It further claimed that the negligence of third parties, including the horse's veterinarian and trainer, Dr. Kimmel, contributed to Gold Spur's damages. Gulfstream filed a third-party complaint against Dr. Kimmel for contribution and contractual indemnification. Gulfstream's contribution count was predicated on a duty of care that Dr. Kimmel, as trainer, allegedly owed to Gold Spur to protect the horse from unreasonably dangerous conditions. Specifically, Gulfstream alleged that Dr. Kimmel knew or should have known of the "soft" and wet conditions of the track, yet, despite having discretion to withhold Devil's Cup from the race, allowed the horse to run on the turf track that day. Gulfstream's second count, contractual indemnity, was based upon release and assumption of risk provisions contained in documents executed by Dr. Kimmel, as agent for Gold Spur.

In response to Gulfstream's requests for admissions and in his deposition, Dr. Kimmel acknowledged that he was responsible for the care, safety, and well-being of the horse. He testified that on the day of the race, he knew that the turf was soft because there had been a significant amount of rain. He did not walk the course to examine the track before the race.[1] He admitted that he was uncertain how Devil's Cup would handle the soft turf because the horse had never raced on soft turf before. Further, he was aware that Devil's Cup had undergone surgery for a synovial cyst in a hind leg when he was two years old.

Dr. Kimmel acknowledged that as the trainer, he was advisor to the horse's owner and had authority to withdraw or scratch the horse from the race for any reason, up until the time that the horse entered the starting gate. Dr. Kimmel and Alan Quartucci, the racing manager for Gold Spur, discussed the turf course conditions that day, and both expressed concern about whether Devil's Cup should run in the race. Despite their concerns, they allowed the horse to race.

Several witnesses were deposed concerning a trainer's duties and obligations to the owner of the horse. These witnesses, mostly horse trainers, said that trainers have a duty to assess the track before deciding whether to run their horses and that they can scratch a horse from a race if they feel that a track is unsafe. They noted that some trainers routinely walk the turf course before every race; they agreed that every trainer should inspect the course if they have safety concerns.

Doug Donn, the president and chief executive officer of Gulfstream, gave similar testimony regarding a trainer's duties and responsibilities. However, in his opinion, the turf was not a factor in Devil's Cup's injury, since no other horses in the turf races suffered any injury. Another witness opined that Devil's Cup broke down because the horse was lame going into the race and had been sore through training.

Dr. Kimmel moved for summary judgment against Gulfstream on the contribution and indemnification counts. He argued that the only negligence alleged by Gold Spur was the negligence of Gulfstream *960 for maintenance, design and operation of the race track, for which he had no joint liability. As to indemnification, Dr. Kimmel argued that the indemnity clause in the Stall Agreement[2] does not clearly and unequivocally state that he must indemnify Gulfstream for its own negligence, but only allows indemnification for Dr. Kimmel's negligence. After determining that there were no disputed facts on these issues, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Dr. Kimmel.

A party moving for summary judgment must conclusively demonstrate the absence of any genuine issue of material fact and the moving party's entitlement to judgment as a matter of law. See Wills v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. 351 So.2d 29, 30 (Fla.1977); Holl v. Talcott, 191 So.2d 40, 43 (Fla.1966); Johnson v. Treasure Coast Plaza, Ltd., 670 So.2d 1199, 1201 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996); Berenson v. S. Baptist Hosp. of Fla., Inc., 646 So.2d 809, 810 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994); Lenhal Realty, Inc. v. Transamerica Commercial Fin. Corp., 615 So.2d 207, 208 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993). Summary judgments are reviewed de novo on appeal. See Gasch v. Harris, 808 So.2d 1260, 1261 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002). On review, the court must indulge every possible inference in favor of the party against whom summary judgment was granted. Wills, 351 So.2d at 32.

Moreover, in negligence cases, summary judgment should be cautiously granted. Gonzalez v. B & B Cash Grocery Stores, Inc., 692 So.2d 297, 299 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997)(citing Moore v. Morris, 475 So.2d 666, 668 (Fla.1985)); Johnson v. Treasure Coast Plaza, Ltd., 670 So.2d 1199, 1201 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996). The issue of negligence, and more specifically, the determination of proximate cause, is ordinarily a question that should be left for a jury. McDonald v. Fla. Dep't of Transp., 655 So.2d 1164, 1168 (Fla. 4th DCA 1995); Grall v. Risden, 167 So.2d 610, 612 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964); see Sol Walker & Co. v. Seaboard Coast Line R.R. Co., 362 So.2d 45, 50 (Fla. 2d DCA 1978)(holding that whether the negligent acts of parties combined to become the proximate cause of the injury was a question for the jury). Further, "[u]nless a movant can show unequivocally that there was no negligence, or that plaintiffs negligence was the sole proximate cause of the injury, courts will not be disposed to granting summary judgment in his favor." Wills, 351 So.2d at 31. As the movant, Dr. Kimmel had the burden to prove to the trial court that no genuine issue of material fact existed with regard to Gulfstream's claims for contribution and indemnification and that he was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on both counts.

Contribution

In its third party complaint against Dr. Kimmel, Gulfstream alleged that if it were found negligent, Dr. Kimmel's negligence may have contributed to the horse's injury. Gulfstream's claim for contribution was based upon the Uniform Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasors Act. § 768.31, Fla. Stat. (1997). This act provides, in pertinent part:

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Bluebook (online)
820 So. 2d 957, 2002 WL 1021736, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gulfstream-park-racing-association-inc-v-gold-spur-stable-inc-fladistctapp-2002.