LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Zedan Racing Stables has appealed a Kentucky Circuit Court ruling that denied its request for a temporary injunction seeking to allow Bob Baffert-trained Arkansas Derby winner Muth to race in next month’s 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

The stable’s motion filed Friday with the Kentucky Court of Appeals comes a day after Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry denied the injunction and expressed concern about “innocent third parties” having to remove eligible horses from the milestone Derby on May 4 to accommodate the colt trained by the suspended Hall of Famer. Muth won last month’s Derby qualifier but not the 100 points because of the suspension. Churchill Downs extended his suspension last July through the end of 2024 because of public comments following his discipline.

Perry also noted that ZRS was aware that Baffert’s horses had to be transferred to a non-suspended trainer by Jan. 29 to be eligible yet chose to remain with him. The judge also wrote that Churchill Downs has a duty to ensure rules and regulations put in place to “guarantee an even playing field” are upheld and followed as host of one of the world’s preeminent sporting events.

Zedan stated that it shares those sentiments in the filing and is pursuing the injunction to serve the public interest. It added that by excluding a horse based on a trainer’s public narrative rather than qualifications and merit, Churchill Downs Inc. is “skewing the Derby and casting a cloud over the ultimate ‘winner.’ … No one should want to see the Derby unfold this way.”

The filing also notes that while the court doubted some aspects of Zedan’s counts, it did not find any of them insubstantial.

“It would suffice if just one of Zedan’s claims affords a substantial prospect of invalidating the ban,” the appeal added. “For the reasons noted herein, all of them do, especially given CDI’s abject failure to advance any creditable justification for banning Muth from the upcoming Derby.”

The NCAA announced penalties for Arizona State and four former employees related to recruiting violations that occurred under former football coach Herm Edwards.

Arizona State received four years of probation, an undisclosed fine, vacated games in which ineligible players competed, reduced scholarships and recruiting restrictions. The NCAA did not provide further details about any of those punishments. The school also disassociated from a booster for five years.

The NCAA acknowledged the school had self-imposed a one-year bowl ban last season. The Sun Devils will be eligible for a bowl in 2024.

“Arizona State’s cooperation throughout the investigation and processing of this case was exemplary, and the cooperation began with the leadership shown by the university president,” said Jason Leonard, executive director of athletics compliance at Oklahoma and chief hearing officer for the NCAA committee on infractions panel. “The school’s acceptance of responsibility and decision to self-impose meaningful core penalties is a model for all schools to follow and is consistent with the expectations of the NCAA’s infractions program.”

Edwards, who now works for ESPN, was fired after the Sun Devils went 1-2 to start the 2022 season. He was found to have committed a “responsibility violation,” according to the NCAA.

The allegations first came to light three years ago, when a package of documents sent to the NCAA detailed several recruiting violations, including ignoring restrictions in place during the COVID-19 recruiting dead period. During this time, a mother of a player purchased travel accommodations for recruits to visit campus, staff members provided guided tours to roughly a dozen recruits when campus was closed to visitors, and a coach worked out a player in a park.

The NCAA found ASU offered “recruiting inducements, impermissible tryouts and [committed] tampering.”

No individuals were named by the NCAA, nor were their specific punishments provided.

“The individuals also agreed to or did not contest show-cause orders ranging from three to 10 years consistent with the Level I-aggravated classifications of their respective violations,” the NCAA said.

The purported ringleader of the rule-breaking culture, former ASU defensive coordinator Antonio Pierce, left the program after the 2021 season and is now the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

“The COVID dead period rules were created not only for the sake of competitive equity but for the safety and well-being of prospective and enrolled student-athletes and their families,” ASU president Michael Crow said. “ASU is disappointed and embarrassed by the actions of certain former football staff members who took advantage of a global pandemic to hide their behavior.”

The punishment issued Friday by the NCAA does not mark the end of the line for the violations.

“Two individuals are contesting portions of their respective cases via written record hearing,” the NCAA said. “After the written record hearing, the committee will release its full decision.”

The NCAA and ASU said they will not comment further.

College football is adding helmet communication for FBS games, two-minute timeouts at the end of each half and other changes approved this week by the NCAA’s Playing Rules Oversight Panel.

Games featuring FBS teams will give each the option of using coach-to-player communications through the helmet of one player on the field, designated with a green dot on the midline of his helmet. Several teams used helmet communications during the most recent bowl season, but it will now be an option for every game in the sport’s top division.

Coach-to-player communication will be shut off with 15 seconds left on the play clock or the snap of the ball — whichever comes first. The NFL and other levels of football, including some high school associations, have long used helmet communication to signal in plays. FBS coaches had discussed implementing the technology for several years but the NCAA Football Rules Committee didn’t propose it until March. Concerns about cost, logistics and the liability and warrantees of helmets that would be modified contributed to the delay in college football.

The topic gained added focus after the NCAA began investigating Michigan for allegedly orchestrating an elaborate signal-stealing system. Georgia coach Kirby Smart, the rules committee co-chair, and others have said they still expect many teams to use hand signals and signs to relay plays.

Teams in all football divisions also will have the option of using tablets to view in-game video. Up to 18 tablets will be distributed on the sideline, locker room and coaches’ booths to study the game broadcast feed as well as camera angles from a team’s sideline and end zone. The tablets can be viewed by all team personnel but cannot connect to other devices, project larger images or provide data and analytics.

The NCAA panel also approved automatic timeouts with two minutes left in the second and fourth quarters, akin to the NFL’s two-minute warning. The timeouts will not be additional television timeouts. All timing rules will be synchronized, including 10-second runoffs and stopping the clock when a first down is gained inbounds.

New rules will allow conferences to all use collaborative replay review. Also, horse-collar tackles within the tackle box will result in a 15-yard penalty. Previously, no fouls had been called for such tackles within the tackle box.