Howard Taylor files lawsuit against Jeff Gural

Howard Taylor, a Philadelphia-based lawyer and harness racing horse owner, has filed a lawsuit alleging defamation and related claims against Jeff Gural, a competitor and owner of the Meadowlands Racetrack.

The suit focuses on the Meadowlands press release (November 3, 2023) announcing the suspension of Taylor and others from racing at the Meadowlands effective December 1, 2023.  According to the press release, this ban was the result of “evidence” revealed in an unrelated criminal trial that purportedly tied Taylor to the purchase of a certain PED’s for racehorses.

Later that day, Gural was quoted in Thoroughbred Racing News saying that Taylor “had to be giving EPO [Epogen] to his trainers to use and not a single trainer picked up the phone and said I have an owner who wants me to use EPO on his horses.”

That statement was untrue. No facts, in either the Meadowlands press release or the article, supported the claim that Taylor ever gave Epogen to any of his trainers or that Taylor ever instructed any trainer to use Epogen on his horses.

The lawsuit is captioned Howard Taylor v. Jeffrey Gural and it was filed in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

by Tilden Katz, for Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies