{"id":29047,"date":"2015-05-21T15:50:04","date_gmt":"2015-05-21T22:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=29047"},"modified":"2015-05-21T13:54:13","modified_gmt":"2015-05-21T20:54:13","slug":"american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"American Pharoah Owner Named In Gambling Debt Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ahmed
Ahmed Zayat is the target of a gambling debt lawsuit, but says there is no merit to the charges. (Image: Michael Heiman)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

American Pharoah<\/a> is on the verge of winning horse racing\u2019s Triple Crown, a feat that would make him the first horse to do so since 1978.<\/p>\n

But the horse\u2019s owner has much more than racing on his mind at the moment.<\/p>\n

Ahmed Zayat, the owner of the horse that has won this year\u2019s Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, was named in a federal lawsuit that alleges he never paid up on $2 million in gambling debts that he accumulated on a Costa Rican sports betting site.<\/p>\n

The suit, brought by Howard Rubinsky, has been called \u201cmeritless\u201d by Zayat\u2019s attorneys.<\/p>\n

Alleged Debt Comes from Sportsbook Credit Line<\/b><\/h2>\n

According to the lawsuit, Rubinsky at one point opened a $3 million line of credit for Zayat to use at the Tradewinds Sportsbook. Zayat, Rubinsky claims, had some big wins at other Costa Rican websites, but lost $2 million or more at Tradewinds.<\/p>\n

Rubinsky then claims that Zayat refused to pay, costing Rubinsky the commissions he had earned on Zayat\u2019s bets. The allegations go on to say that Zayat paid down part of the debt in 2004 via a payment plan, but that he eventually stopped paying anything, and still owes Rubinsky (who was responsible for the line of credit) $1.65 million.<\/p>\n

Rubinsky has made other claims as well, including stating that Zayat offered him $1 million if he would agree to tell the sportsbook owners that Zayat had died in a car accident.<\/p>\n

Zayat Says Debt is Fiction<\/b><\/h2>\n

But Zayat disputes these charges, saying that he has never made a single bet through Rubinsky, and that the debt he is suing over doesn\u2019t even exist.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a fraud,\u201d Zayat told the Associated Press. \u201cIt\u2019s a scam from A to Z. It\u2019s total fiction. It\u2019s a total lie.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a statement submitted to court in March, Zayat said that he was unaware of anything Rubinsky might have done for him at any sportsbook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never asked Rubinsky to put up a line of credit for me anyway, and I was never aware\u2026and I am still not aware\u2026that he ever did so,\u201d Zayat wrote in the statement.<\/p>\n

Rubinsky Has Prior Bookmaking Conviction<\/b><\/h2>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time that Rubinsky has been involved in a lawsuit over a gambling operation. In 2008, he pleaded guilty for his role in an illegal bookmaking business that he operated along with Michael and Jeffrey Jelinsky.<\/p>\n

It is through the Jelinskys that Zayat and Rubinsky first met. According to Zayat, they were introduced sometime between 2001 and 2003.<\/p>\n

Several years later, in either 2007 or 2008, Zayat says that he gave Rubinsky $25,000 after he said he was sick and needed money because he had been cheated by the Jelinskys. Zayat also gave another $25,000 to Donna Rubinsky, Howard\u2019s sister, through the Zayat Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not deny that I gave him that first check,\u201d Zayat said in his statement to the court. \u201cBut I can say unequivocally that I did not give Mr. Rubinsky any money as payment on any debt. I did not, and do not, owe Mr. Rubinsky any money. I agreed to give him money because he told me he was ill and broke.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

True or not, these allegations could serve as a distraction away from what Zayat would like the world to be focusing on: the potential Triple Crown for his horse, American Pharoah.<\/p>\n

If the horse wins at the Belmont Stakes<\/a> on June 6, he will become the first to do so since Affirmed won all three races 37 years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Pharoah is on the verge of winning horse racing\u2019s Triple Crown, a feat that would make him the first horse to do so since 1978. But the horse\u2019s owner has much more than racing on his mind at the moment. Ahmed Zayat, the owner of the horse that has won this year\u2019s Kentucky Derby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":29048,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Pharoah Owner Named in Gambling Debt Lawsuit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While Ahmed Zayat would like to focus on potentially winning the first Triple Crown in nearly 40 years, there are allegations that he owes millions in gambling debts to an associate.\" \/>\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=\"American Pharoah Owner Named in Gambling Debt Lawsuit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While Ahmed Zayat would like to focus on potentially winning the first Triple Crown in nearly 40 years, there are allegations that he owes millions in gambling debts to an associate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/\" \/>\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=\"2015-05-21T22:50:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-21T20:54:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/042915-horses-Ahmed-Zayat-pi-mp.vadapt.620.high_.0.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"348\" \/>\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\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/\",\"name\":\"American Pharoah Owner Named in Gambling Debt Lawsuit\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/042915-horses-Ahmed-Zayat-pi-mp.vadapt.620.high_.0.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-05-21T22:50:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-05-21T20:54:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"While Ahmed Zayat would like to focus on potentially winning the first Triple Crown in nearly 40 years, there are allegations that he owes millions in gambling debts to an associate.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/american-pharoah-owner-named-in-gambling-debt-lawsuit\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/042915-horses-Ahmed-Zayat-pi-mp.vadapt.620.high_.0.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/042915-horses-Ahmed-Zayat-pi-mp.vadapt.620.high_.0.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":348,\"caption\":\"Ahmed Zayat is the target of a gambling debt lawsuit, but says there is no merit to the charges. 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