Zedan appealed Muth's derby refusal; Harmful talk about horses that could be ruled out as 'Ghosts'

The day after the lower court hearing in Kentucky refuse a motion to make Amr Zedan's 'TDN Rising Star' Muth eligible for the GI Kentucky Derby by overturning the ban of trainer Bob Baffert of Churchill Downs Inc., (CDI), which raced Zedan's stable on Thursday Six asked the Kentucky Court of Appeals to “vacate the Jefferson Circuit Court's Order and issue a temporary restraining order” to allow him Good magic Colt should at least start the process of racing in the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Zedan’s April 19 motion proposed that “At a minimum, a partial injunction shall be issued allowing Muth to be stabled under Derby rules at Churchill Downs Racetrack before 11 a.m. Eastern time on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Such an approach would properly protect the rights and interests of the balance and enable the upcoming Derby to proceed as normal, with all horses eligible to race and foals The best horse will win.”

Zedan is not only racing against time with his legal efforts but also fighting against previous court decisions. In addition to the denial of his restraining order request Thursday in Kentucky state court, Baffert (who was not party to Zedan's lawsuit) lost a federal case in 2023 that similarly sought to overturn reverse his ban by CDI.

CDI banned Baffert from its properties immediately after the 2021 Derby, which the now-disqualified Medina Spirit owned and trained by Baffert won after testing positive for betamethasone .

Baffert's ban initially only lasted for two Derbies. But in July 2023, CDI extended the penalty until 2024.

Zedan’s April 19 appeal court filing dissented from a judge’s opinion in a Kentucky lower court that stated “deep concerns” about “innocent third parties taking horses out of the Derby yard to make room for the Plaintiff's horses if the Court grants injunctive relief by order.”

By contrast, Zedan told the appeals court in its filing that “such harm is a mere specter — there is no evidence that any competitor would suffer.”

Zedan's reasoning continued: “If it weren't for the illegal ban, Muth would have entered the Derby as the winner of the match. [GI] Arkansas Derby and no one would think twice about it. That's really how horse racing, any competition works properly.

“The Jefferson Circuit noted that the other competitors 'did nothing wrong, followed the rules, and worked hard only to be denied the opportunity to compete at the last moment,'” Zedan's filing said. go out. “But there is no evidence to suggest or find that any other horse would have been disqualified from the Derby had Muth been able to afford his own. [qualifying] point, or any other owner will be unhappy.”

Churchill Downs in recent years has limited the Derby to 24 entrants, of whom 20 are allowed to start. If the appeals court rules in favor of Muth's entry into the Derby, it could theoretically exclude the bottom qualifiers from making the top 24. If the court's order does not bar Baffert, these Another owner who has a Derby contender he trains may also suddenly want to enter the Derby, possibly ruling out more current qualifiers.

However, Zedan's records do not show that.

“If there's anything that bothers the other owners, it's the fact that none of them can declare their horse a worthy winner of this year's Derby without an asterisk on the side. next to its name and the nagging unanswerable question, 'Is that thoroughbred horse a thoroughbred? overcame Muth'?” stated profile.

Zedan's filing continues at another point: “Without seeking to find any substantive justification for CDI's injunction, the Jefferson Circuit denied Zedan's request for injunctive relief . After rebutting some of CDI's defenses and determining that

Disputes over standing did not prevent resolution of Zedan's claim, the lower court questioned the irreparable harm that threatened Zedan. In particular, the court held that Zedan could have avoided injury by transferring his horse to another trainer in January before this year's Derby.”

Zedan later argued in his filing that moving Muth to another coach was not an option he wanted to pursue in 2024, even though he had done so in previous Derbies when Baffert's ban by the CDI took effect.

Zedan's profile states: “Zedan and similarly situated owners experienced disappointing results following a change of trainers ahead of the 2022 Derby and 2023 Derby, where their horses' performance suffered a steep decline important”. “After returning to Baffert, most of these horses were back in shape.”

Zedan's filing then makes the leap in logic: “The irrefutable evidence is that switching trainers harms horses and reduces performance, and no one can replace them. Baffert in preparing horses for the Derby. By all indications, a move to another trainer would leave Muth handicapped and ultimately ineligible for the Derby.”

At another point in Friday's filing, Zedan made the analogy that his stable “is on equal footing with the New York Giants if they are barred from the Super Bowl because the host stadium has a long-standing feud with the State of New York. York.”

Zedan hit out at CDI by claiming that the gaming corporation had “excluded a horse based on the trainer's public 'tell' rather than actual qualifications, compliance and performance. CDI is betraying its principles, subverting fairness, derailing the Derby and casting a dark cloud over the ultimate 'winner', which will now be just an artifact of minor caprice CDI's light…

“No one wants to see the Derby played out this way,” Zedan summarized. “On the contrary, the public interest is served by allowing the public to view and cheer on the best horses at the Derby – as opposed to the CDI arbitrarily excluding a horse with potential to win.”

A request for comment emailed to CDI late Friday afternoon did not yield a timely response to this story.