Monmouth Park still in $20M fight over Sandy claims

The track's barns, parking area, fences, signage, press box and other "major parts of the complex" suffered damage, according to the suit.

A $20 million dispute over insurance coverage for damage caused by Superstorm Sandy at the Monmouth Park racetrack has been moved from state court to federal court at the request of the insurer, Lexington Insurance.

The filing, called a "notice of removal," was made last week based on the fact that Monmouth Park, its subsidiaries and the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority the plaintiffs in the case are all New Jersey-based, while Lexington is based in Boston.

The policy calls for a $1 million flood deductible and a $500,000 wind-and-hail deductible, and the parties disagree on the specific cause of the damage at the Oceanport horse track from the storm in October 2012. The track's barns, parking area, fences, signage, press box and other "major parts of the complex" suffered damage, according to the suit.

There also is a dispute about whether Sandy qualifies as a "named storm" according to the policy, and thereby is subject to the higher deductible.

Representatives of Monmouth Park say no. "It is clear that Sandy was not a hurricane but was declared a post-tropical storm prior to landfall in New Jersey," Dennis Drazin, an attorney whose firm runs the tacks, said in the suit.

Drazin also maintains that an executive order issued by Governor Christie prohibits insurance carriers from applying a hurricane deductible to Sandy-related damage.

According to Monmouth Park officials, delayed or unpaid claims at the racetrack have resulted in putting off numerous repairs as well as out-of-pocket expenses that have yet to be repaid including $400,000 incurred by the sports authority and postponement of work on revenue-generating new amenities like an amphitheater and boardwalk, now not scheduled to open until next summer.

Damage to the barns on the backstretch was so severe, according to the suit, that two contractors recommended they be demolished and replaced at a cost of $20 million. The partial payments have been insufficient so far to allow for such a replacement, according to the suit.

Reimbursement for $1.4 million also is sought for damage at the track grounds because of the site becoming an emergency staging area for thousands of first responders and other personnel in the months after Sandy. Additional, unspecified compensation for "punitive damages for willful and wanton violation of the executive order" also is sought.

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Monmouth Park still in $20M fight over Sandy claims