A woman has sued “Jeopardy!” TV quiz show host Alex Trebek in connection with the disappearance of a $100,000 broodmare she delivered to his central California horse breeding farm.
The lawsuit demands that Trebek and Creston Farms return the mare named BeBe Trando, or reimburse the woman, Marion Warner, for her loss plus damages and legal fees.
The suit, filed March 16 in San Luis Obispo Superior Court, says Warner believes “that defendants ... sold, traded, gifted or otherwise disposed of BeBe.”
A spokesman for Creston Farms could not be reached for comment.
Warner sent BeBe Trando to Trebek’s 700-acre facility in Paso Robles on Jan. 21 to be bred to Trebek’s stallion, Iron Cat, court filings say.
On Feb. 24, Creston Farms staff called to tell her the horse would be bred the next day. Then on March 2, the farm’s manager informed her the horse had become sick during the night and had to be euthanized.
The suit says she later learned that the veterinarian who had supposedly put down the horse had not euthanized any horses at Creston Farms the day that BeBe Trando was said to have died, or in the previous week.
A horse listed as “BeBe” was euthanized on Feb. 17, but the animal’s description did not match that of Warner’s horse, the lawsuit says.