DERBY DOPING DISGRACE
BAFFERT’S KENTUCKY CHAMP COULD LOSE CROWN AFTER FAILED DRUG TEST
The result of the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown is now in doubt, and a Hall of Fame trainer is facing skepticism, and discipline, following a positive post-race drug test of his horse.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s victory could be reversed, and Bob Baffert has been suspended from Churchill Downs after the horse tested positive for the steroid betamethasone that is used to treat pain and inflammation.
Baffert told reporters he would be transparent with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission as it investigates the matter and denied knowledge of any wrongdoing. Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of betamethasone in its system, Baffert said his barn was told.
“To be clear, if the findings are upheld, Medina Spirit’s results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun will be declared the winner,” Churchill Downs officials said in a statement.
“Churchill Downs will not tolerate it. Given the seriousness of the alleged offense, Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert, the trainer of Medina Spirit, from entering any horses at Churchill Downs Racetrack.”
For now, Medina Spirit will still run in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, unless officials at Pimlico or the Maryland Racing Commission prevent it from doing so. The organization that operates Pimlico, 1/ST RACING, said in a statement Sunday that a decision would be made after a thorough review of the case. The post position draw for the Preakness has been rescheduled for Tuesday.
Mandaloun is not planning to enter the second leg of the Triple Crown, meaning if the result is changed the hope of a Triple Crown winner in 2021 is over. Medina Spirit is the fifth Baffert horse to have failed a drug test in over a year, continuing a concerning trend.
“I got the biggest gut-punch in racing for something that I didn’t do,” Baffert said, referring to the failed test. “And it’s disturbing. It’s an injustice to the horse . ... I don’t know what’s going on in racing right now, but there’s something not right. I don’t feel embarrassed. I feel like I was wronged. We’re going to do our own investigation. We’re going to be transparent with the racing commission, like we’ve always been.
“He’s a great horse. He doesn’t deserve this. He ran a gallant race.”
This has become a pattern with Baffert horses. The steroid betamethasone that Medina Spirit tested positive for is the same drug that was found in the system of Gamine, the filly Baffert trained that finished third in the Kentucky Oaks last September. It was disqualified and Baffert was fined $1,500. He did recently win an appeals case before the Arkansas Racing Commission. He was suspended by Oaklawn Park stewards for 15 days after a pair of positive drug tests involving two of his horses that tested positive for the painkiller lidocaine. Baffert, 68, said they were exposed inadvertently.
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist,” he said. “I know everybody is not out to get me, but there’s definitely something wrong. Why is it happening to me? You know, there’s problems in racing, but it’s not Bob Baffert.”
The last — and only — time a Kentucky Derby winner was reversed due to a positive drug test was 1968, when Dancer’s Image was disqualified and Forward Pass was ordered the winner. The 2019 winner at the Kentucky Derby was changed as well, when Maximum Security was disqualified for interference, and Country House was named the winner.