Medina Spirit heads to Preakness, minus Baffert

» Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is headed to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes while trainer Bob Baffert said Monday he won’t attend the race to avoid being a distraction following the colt’s failed postrace drug test.

Medina Spirit’s Derby win by half a length over Mandaloun on May 1 gave Baffert his record seventh victory in the sport’s premier race. That milestone win is now in jeopardy following Baffert’s announcement Sunday that test results revealed the horse had an excessive amount of the steroid betamethasone.

Baffert is appealing the positive test and part of the original sample will be re-tested. If the violation is upheld, Medina Spirit could be disqualified and runner-up Mandaloun elevated to winner.

The trainer has denied all wrongdoing and promised full transparency with Kentucky racing officials. Churchill Downs nonetheless suspended Baffert from entering horses at the track. The Maryland Jockey Club and Pimlico officials say they will decide on Medina Spirit’s status in the Triple Crown’s middle jewel after reviewing the facts.

Baffert’s lawyer, W. Craig Robertson III, confirmed to The Associated Press he is prepared to file for a temporary restraining order to keep Preakness officials from denying Medina Spirit entry into the race, if they decide to do so.

Those events will unfold with Baffert back in California instead of at the race.

“I don’t want to take away from the horses,” Baffert said.

Whether he is in Baltimore or not, the focus is on Medina Spirit and Baffert.

Medina Spirit and Concert Tour, who skipped the Derby, arrived at Pimlico on Monday after being transported by van from Churchill Downs. The field for the 146th Preakness will be drawn Tuesday after being pushed back a day.

In the meantime, Baffert continued to deal with the fallout from his fifth horse to have failed a drug test in over a year.