LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has disqualified Medina Spirit from the 2021 Kentucky Derby and suspended trainer Bob Baffert for 90 days and fined him $7,500.
In a notification, the KHRC said Medina Spirit who was the first place finisher of the Derby tested positive for betamethasone, a banned drug. The horse’s disqualification means all purse money is forfeited. Pari-mutuel wagering isn’t affected by the ruling.
THe KHRC suspended Baffert after a formal hearing of the Board of Stewards. The suspension runs 90 days from March 8, 2022 through June 5, 2022, keeping Baffert out of this year’s Kentucky Derby. The ruling also means Baffert is not allowed at any horse racing facilities under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The ruling says horses trainied or owned by Baffert will not be allowed at facilities unless they are transferred to another person that the stewards find acceptable.
Baffert has 30 days to pay all fines and failure to do so could mean a summary suspension of his license.
Spectrum News 1 reached out to Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robinson III. In a statement he wrote back and said, "I am very disappointed in the ruling. It runs contrary to the scientifically proven facts in this case and the rules of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. We will be filing an immediate appeal."
Medina Spirit died Dec. 6, 2021 at Santa Anita Park. The 3-year-old colt collapsed after a workout.
Baffert’s attorneys released a statement Friday, Dec. 3, claiming tests conducted by a New York laboratory have “definitively confirmed” Medina Spirit tested positive for a corticosteroid not through an injection, but from an ointment used to treat a skin rash.
Medina Spirit is Baffert’s fifth horse known to have failed a drug test in just over a year. Right after the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Baffert said his barn was told that Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of betamethasone — slightly more than double what the trainer said was the allowable amount — in a postrace sample.
Betamethasone is the same drug that was found in the system of Gamine, another Baffert-trained horse who finished third in the Kentucky Oaks in September 2020. Gamine was eventually disqualified from that finish because of that test and Baffert was fined $1,500. Betamethasone is legal under Kentucky racing rules, though it must be cleared 14 days before a horse races.
Monday’s ruling from the KHRC says the sample taken from Medina Spirit was tested at a lab at the University of California, Davis.
The only horse to be disqualified for medication after winning the Derby is Dancer’s Image in 1968.
Churchill Downs released a statement shortly after the KHRC announcement declaring Mandaloun the winner of Derby 147. The statement read, "Today Churchill Downs recognizes Mandaloun as the winner of the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby and extends our congratulations to owner/breeder Juddmonte, trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux. Winning the Kentucky Derby is one of the most exciting achievements in sports and we look forward to celebrating Mandaloun on a future date in a way that is fitting of this rare distinction."
Here are the stewards rulings 22-0009 and 22-010