Kentucky Derby Tours had hoped someone would buy the Thoroughbred Times and continue to give horse racing fans the Thoroughbred Times.  Since last September, when it was announced that Bow Tie Publishing has declared bancruptcy for all its horse publications, we had dreaded the day when or if the assets would be sold. Hope is dwindling, will anyone step forward and decide to continue the magazine? We keep hoping, never say never. See our blog at – https://kentuckyderbytours.com/blog/2013/01/07/thoroughbred-times-auction-and-bankruptcy-say-it-isnt-so/

That hasn’t happened so far but it will not be next week that we watch the online auction of 27 lots of the Thoroughbred Times assets.  An objection by The Jockey Club Information Systems (TJCIS) was filed last Tuesday and will delay the online auction of assets of bankrupt Thoroughbred Times originally scheduled from Jan. 14-18. Bankruptcy court trustee James Rogan had filed notice of the auction to be conducted by the Halfhill Auction Group. Included in the assets of the company were databases that contained pedigrees of Thoroughbred horses and other data attorneys for TJCIS claim were licensed to Thoroughbred Times and cannot be sold without written approval of TJCIS, something the division of The Jockey Club has not done.

In addition to TJCIS filing an objection, veterinarian Kenneth Marcella of Georgia and California photographer Ron Mesaros have also filed objections with the bankruptcy trustee over possible sale of articles and photographs they produced and to which they claim ownership and copyright.

Halfhill Auction Group was chosen to sell all the property owned by Bow Tie Publishing’s Thoroughbred publication, which declared Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September.

“I expect all the disputes over the Thoroughbred Times property to be settled at that hearing,” said Jim Halfhill.

The company’s intellectual property including the name, website, copyrights, trademarks, databases, Web servers, and digital and hardcopy photo library was to be sold through an online auction beginning Jan. 14. The auction has now been tentatively set to be held Jan. 28 through Feb. 1.

An on-site auction of office furniture, office supplies, computers, and artwork is still scheduled for Jan. 26 at 10 a.m. The Thoroughbred Times office is at 2008 Mercer Road, Lexington.

TJCIS also objects to computer hardware being sold during an on-site auction of assets scheduled for Jan. 26. Attorneys for TJCIS believe neither the hard drives and/or memory has been erased and the computers could contain much of the proprietary information TJCIS claims it owns.

A hearing to address the various objections will be held at 9 a.m. on Jan. 24 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, 100 East Vine Street, second floor, Lexington, Ky.