by Frank Angst

Overbrook Farm has filed a lawsuit against Television Games Network analyst Paul Lo Duca over a Storm Cat stud fee it says has not been paid.

Overbrook is seeking $432,202 from Lo Duca, a former major league baseball player who has been working as an analyst for TVG. The lawsuit was filed on September 17 in Fayette County, Kentucky, Circuit Court in Lexington.

In the lawsuit Overbrook says Lo Duca failed to pay $530,000 owed when the retired catcher bred Platinum Tiara to Storm Cat in 2007 on a lease agreement with M375 Thoroughbreds, who owned the mare at the time. Overbrook said Lo Duca owed the farm the money—$500,000 for the stud fee and $30,000 in taxes—after the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) runner-up produced a foal on March 27, 2008.

Overbrook says Lo Duca did not pay the stud fee, which by contract allowed the farm to sell the foal. The unnamed filly was purchased for $325,000 by Mike Lauffer at this year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Selected Yearlings sale.

While Overbrook retained the money from the sale, it contends Lo Duca owes the unpaid portion of the stud fee as well as $187,500 in interest, which accumulated at $7,500 a month. Overbrook also is seeking court costs in the breach of contract lawsuit.

M375 Thoroughbreds, which was founded by former major league baseball player Rob Murphy and has partnered with Lo Duca, did not return a phone call on Thursday. Lo Duca, who is scheduled to provide analysis of this weekend’s Belmont Park races for TVG, could not immediately be reached. The lawsuit did not list an attorney for Lo Duca.

Lo Duca, 37, of Westbury, New York, played 11 seasons in the major leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, and New York Mets. Thebaseballcube.com estimates Lo Duca earned $30.5-million from his baseball salary during his playing career.

In June, Overbrook’s Bill Young Jr., son of the farm’s late founder William T. Young, announced Overbrook would disperse its 75 broodmares, 50 weanlings, 50 yearlings, and 20 to 30 horses of racing age. Overbrook pensioned Storm Cat after the 2008 season.

Frank Angst is a Thoroughbred Times senior staff writer