Churchill Downs Inc. urged the Kentucky Court of Appeals to reject a request for temporary injunction filed by the horse owner Amr Zedan by leaning heavily on a previous ruling in circuit court last week. In the filing, Churchill repeatedly cited a ruling from circuit court judge Mitchell Perry issued on Thursday that found that the “balance of equities . . . weighs strongly against granting injunctive relief.” The ruling cited the impacts of a temporary injunction on the public perception of the Kentucky Derby and the owners and trainers whose horses have qualified for the race. Zedan filed a lawsuit against Churchill Downs on April 3, two days after his horse Muth won the Arkansas Derby, seeking an injunction that would allow Muth to run in the Derby. Muth is trained by Bob Baffert, who has been banned by Churchill Downs since shortly after the 2021 Derby, when his horse Medina Spirit tested positive for a regulated medication and was subsequently disqualified. The ban was initially scheduled to last two years. Churchill extended the ban an additional year in July 2023, shortly after Zedan purchased Muth for $2 million at a 2-year-old auction and sent the horse to Baffert to train. The circuit court ruled against the temporary injunction last Thursday. Zedan filed an appeal the next day. :: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!  In its response to the appeal, Churchill said that Zedan was aware that the ban was extended and that the horse would not be able to earn qualifying points toward the Derby while in Baffert’s care. In the circuit court ruling, Perry leaned heavily on that argument to deny the request for temporary injunction that would allow Muth into the race.   “There is no basis for the court to upend the status quo to address a manufactured emergency of Zedan’s own making,” the filing states. “If Zedan wanted to challenge the rules, the time to do so was before the competition [for qualifying points] started. Making last-minute, retroactive changes to the rules by which every other owner and trainer have abided in pursuing berths in the Derby would work an immense injustice to those owners and trainers who followed those rules and earned berths in the Derby.” Zedan has asked the Kentucky Court of Appeals to rule on the matter prior to April 27, when horses are required to be on the grounds of Churchill to be eligible to enter the race. The filing said that allowing Muth on the grounds would allow the court additional time to weigh the appeal prior to the May 4 Derby. Churchill also said in its response that granting the temporary injunction “would create a media circus and would be an enormous distraction for Churchill Downs, its personnel, and other owners and trainers that have fairly earned a berth to the Derby (in addition to overtly infringing on CDI’s property rights.)” The court is expected to rule on the motion within the next several days. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.