Zedan Racing Stables Inc. (Zedan) has announced the filing of a lawsuit in Kentucky Circuit Court against Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), the company that operates the Kentucky Derby.
The lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction that would enjoin the ban of Zedan, and all other horses trained by iconioc trainer Bob Baffert, from running in this year’s Kentucky Derby.
Zedan’s horse, Muth, which was trained by Baffert, won the Arkansas Derby on March 30, which would normally make it an automatic qualifier for the Kentucky Derby. Muth is considered one of the fastest three-year-olds in the country.
The complaint asserts that CDI’s indefinite extension of its ban on Baffert-trained horses, “led by” CEO Bill Carstanjen, “has no basis in law or in fact – apart from Carstanjen’s inflated ego and personal vendetta – and it cannot withstand scrutiny.”
CDI imposed a ban after the 2021 Kentucky Derby, “which by its terms was to expire after two years on the condition that Baffert did not incur additional violations,” according to Zedan. “The ban was then extended indefinitely despite Baffert having demonstrably and
unequivocally complied with this stipulation. The complaint specifically alleges that CDI’s most recent extension of its ban, which was publicly announced by Carstanjen in 2023:
“Is not grounded in any contractual or common law. CDI based its two-year ban on two
2021 agreements that were no longer in effect in 2023, rendering them inapplicable.
“Defies the federal authority of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA).
HISA was established by Congress specifically to standardize horseracing regulations and
prevent situations like this from occurring. CDI supported the creation of HISA. But at the
moment, racetracks owned by CDI are the only place where Baffert-trained horses cannot
race if they otherwise qualify to compete. As the complaint alleges, this is a direct challenge to HISA’s authority, ‘imperiling the assurance of industry-wide safety and integrity that HISA is meant to ensure.’
“Threatens to undermine the preeminent value of the Kentucky Derby – CDI’S most
prized asset. This year, with the omission of the country’s best horses, the Derby is
‘relegating the winning horse to having an asterisk next to its name.’ In the future, CDI is
risking that ‘subsequent Derbies may be rendered largely irrelevant as industry leaders
transition elsewhere.’ This scenario has outsized adverse implications for CDI’s key
stakeholders, including its venerable institutional shareholders like BlackRock, Fidelity and
Vanguard, and for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which depends on both the Derby as a
key source of revenue and on the thoroughbred horseracing business as a major driver of
economic growth. Carstanjen, the complaint alleges, is consequently ‘putting his own
personal interests above those of all stakeholders.’”
CDI responded with a statement calling Zedan’s lawsuit a “meritless attempt to relitigate” Baffert’s suspension, adding that lifting it now “would threaten the safety and integrity of races at Churchill Downs by changing the qualification rules just before the Derby.
Furthermore, it said that the “same issues in this complaint have been decided by the courts and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which have repeatedly upheld Baffert’s suspension and the disqualification of Medina Spirit.”
