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Nelson v. Ladbroke Racing Corporation4/29/2005
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
Kenneth Nelson appeals a summary judgment in favor of Ladbroke Racing Corporation and Pacific Racing Association in his action for damages based on negligence and strict product liability.
BACKGROUND
Undisputed Facts
Plaintiff was injured while exercising a racehorse at Golden Gate Fields, a part-time race track and year-round thoroughbred horse training facility owned by defendant Ladbroke Racing Corporation, and managed by a Ladbroke-owned entity, defendant Pacific Racing Association. Golden Gate Fields is licensed by the California Horse Racing Board (Racing Board), which is required to establish safety standards for race tracks, including, inter alia, inner and outer rails, gates and gaps, and egress to the track, in order to improve the safety of horses, riders and workers in the racing enclosure. (Bus. & Prof. Code, ยง 19481.)
At the time of his accident, plaintiff had been a professional freelance racehorse exercise rider for 30 years and had worked primarily at Golden Gate Fields for nine years. He was also licensed by the Racing Board. Exercise riders at Golden Gate Fields are employed by horse trainers, not by defendants.
The main track at Golden Gate Fields is a one-mile oval dirt course. The oval has two straightaways that run north-south: the western "homestretch" that lies parallel to the grandstand and the eastern "backstretch" that lies parallel to Interstate 80. It also has a north curve or turn, a south curve or turn, an inner boundary, and an outer boundary. Because horses race in a counter-clockwise direction around the Golden Gate Fields oval, they are moving in a southerly direction when they are on the homestretch and a northerly direction when they are on the backstretch.
Surrounding the oval's inner boundary is a fence consisting of evenly spaced, angled metal posts ("goosenecks") on top of which sits a continuous railing that protrudes slightly over the dirt track. This fence is known as the inner rail and is required at all California race tracks by Racing Board rule 1472. Following extensive discussions between the Racing Board and defendants, a new type of inside rail was installed a few years before plaintiff's accident to decrease the likelihood of jockeys being impaled by the component parts of the rail during collisions with it.
A similar outer rail begins on the oval's outer boundary at the point where the backstretch curves into the north turn. The outer rail continues around the north turn until it reaches a gap where the north turn curves into the homestretch. This gap is referred to as the northern or quarter chute. The outer rail resumes on the other side of the northern gap and proceeds south along the homestretch in front of the grandstand, goes around the south turn, and terminates just before the beginning of the northbound backstretch.
A chain-link fence, often referred to as a shadow fence, runs parallel to and just outside the oval along the backstretch, separating the oval from Interstate 80. Trees and shrubbery grow between the shadow fence and Interstate 80. The shadow fence does not contain a rail. Racing Board rule 1472 requires race tracks to have either an outer rail or a shadow fence designed to meet the same impact standards as a permanent rail. Rule 1472 requires a permanent rail to be designed s
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