Kentucky Derby: Zedan files appeal after temporary injunction is denied

Amr Zedan, owner of Arkansas Derby winner Muth, has filed an appeal of a Kentucky Circuit Court ruling issued Thursday that denied his request for a temporary injunction against a ban by Churchill Downs of Muth’s trainer, Bob Baffert.

The filing asks the Kentucky Court of Appeals to “immediately grant limited relief” from the ruling, which held that Churchill had a property right to apply the ban and that the lifting of the ban would be unfair to entrants in this year’s Kentucky Derby, scheduled for May 4. Horses must be on the grounds of Churchill Downs by April 27 to be entered in the Derby.

The appeal alleges that the Circuit Court ruling was deficient by relying on an opinion that Zedan did not suffer “irreparable harm” because the owner was aware that Churchill had extended the ban on Baffert in July 2023 but still placed Muth in his care. The ruling, issued by Judge Mitchell Perry, noted that Zedan had the option of transferring his horse to a trainer who was not banned for nearly a year prior to filing the suit.

“Such harsh medicine would have rivaled the disease that this lawsuit seeks to cure,” the appeal says. “Trainers are not fungible, and no one can substitute for the legendary Bob Baffert.”

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The appeal also alleges that the Kentucky Derby would be harmed by not allowing Muth to run, contrary to the opinion of the Circuit Court, which cited Churchill’s “duty to ensure that the rules and regulations put in place to guarantee an even playing field are upheld and followed.”

Without Muth in the field, the appeal said, “fans and bettors are losing the chance to see the best, fastest Thoroughbreds compete at the Derby. The 150th Kentucky Derby is relegating the winning horse to having an asterisk next to its name, at the expense of all the contending owners.”

Zedan filed his initial lawsuit in the Jefferson County Circuit Court on April 3, two days after Muth won the Arkansas Derby, which awarded qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby to its top five finishers. Under Churchill’s ban, horses trained by Baffert are ineligible to earn points toward the Derby.

In a hearing on the initial request for temporary injunction, Churchill’s attorneys presented the court with a Triple Crown nomination form signed by Baffert on behalf of Zedan’s horses that explicitly refers to the ban on Baffert and the rights of the three Triple Crown tracks to deny entry to horses for “any reason.” Baffert signed the form in January.

The appeal asks the court, “at a minimum,” to grant a temporary injunction that would allow Muth on the grounds of Churchill Downs by April 27.

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“Such a temporary injunction will afford a panel of this court due time to consider and decide Zedan’s appeal before the Derby commences,” the appeal said.
The lawsuit and the appeal both argue that Churchill extended the ban on Baffert in the summer of 2023 arbitrarily. Churchill first banned Baffert after Medina Spirt tested positive for a regulated medication after winning the 2021 Derby. Churchill cited Baffert’s comments maintaining his innocence during the 2023 Triple Crown as part of the reason for extending the ban.

Last year, just prior to the Derby, a federal District Court in Louisville denied an injunction to Bob Baffert in a lawsuit he filed seeking the same remedy as Zedan. The judge in the case also granted a summary judgment to Churchill dismissing the case. Baffert is not a party to the Zedan suit.

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