Indiana Grand owns and operates the Indiana Downs horse racing track. When races are not being held at the track, racehorses are exercised and trained there. It is not uncommon for exercise riders to be thrown from horses and for horses to become loose during training. Marcelle Martins is an experienced jockey. In 2018, Martins began exercising horses owned by Michael and Penny Lauer at the track. As part of her work, Martins frequently exercised a horse named Accessorizing. On May 7, 2018, Martins exercised Accessorizing at the track. Civilo Cruz, who is an experienced exercise rider, was exercising a horse he owned named Glitter Cat. As Martins finished a turn around the track on Accessorizing, the horse began to run out of Martins’s control. Martins called for an outrider for assistance.

Two Indiana Grand outriders were working the track that day, one of whom attempted to gain control of Accessorizing’s reins, without success. Martins was thrown from her mount, and Accessorizing ran toward a group of horses that included Glitter Cat, ridden by Cruz.

Accessorizing collided with Glitter Cat, causing Cruz to be thrown to the ground and injured. Cruz filed a complaint against the Lauers, raising respondeat superior claims. The Lauers moved to dismiss the claim, arguing that Cruz assumed the risks of the inherently dangerous sport of horse racing. Should horse racing be considered an inherently dangerous activity? Should the court find the Lauers liable?