The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled this week that a civil rights lawsuit could move forward accusing members of a California horse-racing regulatory board of violating the First Amendment when they barred a thoroughbred from being entered into races due to its name.

The appeal stemmed from a 2022 California Horse Racing Board decision that Jerry Jamgotchian could not enter his horse Malpractice Meuser into races without registering with the private Jockey Club of New York.