Zedan appeals to higher court to get Muth into Kentucky Derby

One day after it lost its first court case to get Grade 1 winner Muth into Kentucky Derby 2024, Zedan Racing Stables filed an emergency motion with the Kentucky Court of Appeals in a race against the clock before next Saturday’s deadline to get contending horses into the stables at Churchill Downs.

Churchill Downs Inc. has until Wednesday to respond to the motion, according to the appeals-court website.

“Because Zedan’s horse will be excluded from the Derby on May 4 absent the requested relief, Zedan respectfully submits that a temporary injunction should issue posthaste,” attorney William Brammell Jr. of Louisville, Ky., wrote in papers posted Friday afternoon. “At a minimum, a partial injunction should issue enabling Muth to be stabled under Derby rules at Churchill Downs racetrack by 11 a.m. (EDT) on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Zedan therefore respectfully requests that a member of this court enter a temporary injunction permitting Muth to be stabled at Churchill Downs racetrack in time for that hard deadline. Such a temporary injunction will afford a panel of this court due time to consider and decide Zedan’s appeal before the Derby commences on Saturday, May 4, 2024.”

Flashback: Judge rules Thursday against Zedan, Muth.

The two distinct deadlines on consecutive Saturdays also mean two distinct steps in the appeal and two sets of documents that were filed Friday with the appeals court based in Frankfort, Ky. One was an eight-page brief to support a quick hearing before next weekend on the injunction request to get Muth into a barn at Churchill Downs. The second was the longer motion for relief, a 59-page document that built on arguments made during lower-court hearings this week. The object of that motion is to get Muth into the Derby itself.

It was in Jefferson County Circuit Court in Louisville where judge Mitch Perry ruled in favor of Churchill Downs Inc. on Thursday, rejecting Zedan’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have ordered Muth into the Derby field.

With time running out to get a favorable ruling, the stable operation owned by Amr Zedan repeated its belief that CDI went back on its word last summer by extending a two-year suspension of trainer Bob Baffert by another 18 months. Perry disputed that belief in his ruling Thursday.

“To be entitled to intermediate relief, a party must show that he or she ‘will suffer irreparable injury,’ ” Brammell wrote, going on to say, “Here, that showing is ironclad. ... (Zedan’s) world-class thoroughbred Muth, is right at the top of the list of horses that have qualified to race there. One thing stands in Muth’s way. A bizarre ban that (CDI) has unlawfully extended to exclude all horses, including Muth, trained by the legendary Bob Baffert, who is tied for the most Derby wins of all time.”

Brammell’s filing also begged to differ with CDI’s contention and Perry’s declaration that Zedan could have transferred Muth and other horses to other trainers in time to be eligible for qualifying points. Zedan did that in 2022, when Taiba was moved to Tim Yakteen for his 12th-place finish in the Derby.

“Trainers are not fungible, and no one can substitute for the legendary Bob Baffert,” Brammell said. “Zedan’s horses have been seriously hampered when they have had to transfer away from Baffert in prior years. Switching trainers mid-stream in response to CDI’s surprising, unwarranted extension of its ban would have mooted this case while denying Zedan and Muth their rightful chance to contend for this year’s Derby according to the undisputed record proof.”

Brammell also said public interest favored a court order to get Muth into the Derby.

“As things presently stand, fans and bettors are losing the chance to see the best, fastest thoroughbreds compete at the Derby,” Brammell said. “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.”

A spokesperson for CDI did not respond immediately Friday to a request for comment about the appeal, which Zedan’s team promised Thursday would be coming.

Once CDI responds, a hearing will be scheduled presumably next week in either Frankfort or Louisville. Three judges will be assigned to the case.

Muth won March 30 in the Arkansas Derby (G1), a race that normally qualifies the winner for the Kentucky Derby. Because Muth is trained by Baffert, he already had been declared ineligible for that reward. The $2 million colt sired by Good Magic has had one workout since the Arkansas Derby. That was last Friday at Santa Anita.

Baffert is not a plaintiff in this case that was brought by one of his most loyal clients. Zedan also owned Medina Spirit, who died seven months after he finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby only to be disqualified the following winter. Zedan and Baffert spent two years disputing the conclusions of the post-race drug test that revealed betamethasone in Medina Spirit’s system.