The owners of three Thoroughbreds hospitalized after receiving a compounded drug from Wickliffe Veterinary Pharmacy allege the Lexington, Kentucky, compounder not only was negligent in product preparation, but also failed to halt distribution after it knew at least one horse death in Kentucky had been linked to the drug.

Thoroughbred owners Galen Ho LLC and Robert Harvey and Al Wortzman filed lawsuits seeking at least $250,000 in damages June 9 in U.S. District Court in Ocala, Florida, alleging their horses at an Ocala training center were hospitalized after receiving a compounded drug to treat or prevent equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM).

On June 11, a Wickliffe Veterinary Pharmacy representative said the company had just received notice of the litigation and is reviewing the complaints. The representative said the company will comment further after additional review of the lawsuits.

One of the Thoroughbreds allegedly harmed is Harvey and Wortzman's Hollinger, Canada's 2009 champion 2-year-old colt. The owners say Hollinger, who has won two stakes races and earned more than $700,000, will not be able to compete in 2014 and might have to be retired