Appeal filed on ruling regarding Kentucky claiming restrictions

A California-based owner has filed an appeal of a Kentucky court decision that upheld a rule restricting where claimed horses can run.

Jerry Jamgotchian said he filed the notice of appeal on Tuesday afternoon in Franklin Circuit Court. In a release accompanying the notice, Jamgotchian said he believes “that all horseowners must have the full and unfettered right to race their claimed horses anywhere, without restriction, and believe that the ruling was made solely to protect Churchill Downs and other Kentucky racetracks.”

Late in October, a Franklin Circuit Judge ruled that Kentucky could enforce a rule restricting claimed horses to racing at the track where they were claimed until the track’s meet ended, calling the rule an “incidental burden” on horse owners.

Jamgotchian had successfully challenged a similar rule in California several years ago.