BALTIMORE (AP) — Medina Spirit has passed three rounds of prerace drug testing and been cleared to run in the Preakness on Saturday.


What You Need To Know

  • Medina Spirit will run in the Preakness this weekend

  • After a failed post-Derby drug test, Bob Baffert’s camp agreed to rigorous testing and monitoring of his horses as a condition of entry to the Preakness

  • Baffert does not plan to be in Baltimore for the race and put assistant Jimmy Barnes in charge

  • Medina Spirit’s failed drug test is the fifth medication violation in the past 13 months for Baffert, a two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer and the face of the sport

Maryland racing officials said Friday tests on the Kentucky Derby winner and fellow Bob Baffert-trained Concert Tour came back with nothing that would cause them to be scratched from the second leg of the Triple Crown. Baffert’s camp agreed to rigorous testing and monitoring of his horses as a condition of entry to the Preakness.

Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone in post-Derby testing. If a second round of testing there comes back positive, Medina Spirit will be disqualified and Mandaloun named winner of the Derby.

As is the case in Kentucky, no level of betamethasone is allowed in a horse’s system going into a race in Maryland, so the presence of it could have lead to Medina Spirit being scratched.

Medina Spirit and stablemate Concert Tour arrived at Pimlico Race Course on Monday and jogged on the track Tuesday morning, though Baffert does not plan to be in Baltimore for the race and put assistant Jimmy Barnes in charge.

“Medina Spirit earned his Kentucky Derby win, and my pharmacologists have told me that 21 picograms of betamethasone would have had no effect on the outcome of the race,” Baffert said. “Medina Spirit is a deserved champion, and I will continue to fight for him.”

Medina Spirit’s failed drug test is the fifth medication violation in the past 13 months for Baffert, a two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer and the face of the sport. Winning the Preakness with either Medina Spirit or Concert Tour would give Baffert a record eighth victory in that race, breaking a tie with 19th-century trainer R.W. Walden.

Except for 2020, when the Triple Crown races were run out of order, Baffert is undefeated with the Derby winner in the Preakness.

Medina Spirit was set as the 9-5 morning line favorite for the Preakness and Concert Tour the 5-2 second choice in the field of 10.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.