The Kentucky Derby is just over a week away. While most relevant news has come from the track, much of the racing world has also been focused on Kentucky courtrooms, where a lengthy legal battle has finally concluded.
For the second time in a week, a Kentucky judge ruled against owner Amr Zedan, whose 3-year-old, Muth, will not run on the first Saturday in May. Muth would have been one of the Kentucky Derby betting favorites, but is trained by Bob Baffert, whose ban from America’s most famous horse race was once again upheld in a court of law.
More on the failed Kentucky Derby lawsuit
Baffert’s Kentucky Derby ban stems from the 2021 renewal of the race. That year, Medina Spirit (also owned by Zedan) won the race, but was eventually disqualified following a drug test that showed an overage of betamethasone.
That sparked a long legal fight that continues to this day. Churchill Downs initially suspended Baffert for two years, and horses in his barn were ineligible to earn Kentucky Derby points in qualifying prep races. Owners with Derby hopefuls had to change trainers in order to ensure spots in the 2022 and 2023 Kentucky Derby fields.
Zedan and Baffert challenged the 2021 disqualification in court before dropping that lawsuit earlier this year. As that happened, Muth established himself as one of the top 3-year-olds in training. As a 2-year-old, he finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, America’s most important race for young horses. This year, he won the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, one of the most prominent Kentucky Derby prep races.
Zedan filed an initial injunction earlier this month, which was met with a series of hearings last week. That judge denied his request, but Zedan filed another one earlier this week. His second injunction would have allowed Muth to stable at Churchill Downs while a judge considered whether or not Muth could run in the Kentucky Derby.
The Kentucky Court of Appeals, however, upheld the initial ruling in a verdict issued late on Wednesday. As a result, Muth will not run in next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, and will instead be one of the favorites in Preakness Stakes betting on Saturday, May 18.
Zedan issues a statement
Zedan, a businessman with interests in Saudi Arabia, issued a statement Thursday morning on his Twitter account. It reads, in part:
“We are disappointed with the single judge decision of the Court of Appeals, and saddened that our horse Muth, one of the fastest 3-year-olds in the country, will be denied the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he earned to contend in the 150th Run for the Roses and, potentially, the Triple Crown.”
Zedan added that he reached out to Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen over the winter, but that his operation, Zedan Racing Stables, was “compelled by its substantive business interests to take legal action.”
