Path ahead still unclear
With Belmont next, more questions than answers
BALTIMORE — After a week dominated by the failed drug test of trainer Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby-winning Medina Spirit, horse racing enjoyed a rare moment to celebrate at the Preakness when unheralded Rombauer gave owners John and Diane Fradkin and trainer Michael McCarthy a victory in their first Triple Crown race.
That moment is fleeting.
With the Belmont Stakes on June 5 wrapping up the Triple Crown series, the sport is filled with more questions than answers. Even if Rombauer goes to the Belmont potentially facing Derby favorite Essential Quality and Preakness runner-up Midnight Bourbon, the focus will remain on Baffert and the medication of horses.
Medina Spirit still faces potential disqualification from the Derby unless a second round of testing comes back negative. The colt tested positive for the steroid betamethasone, which Baffert said could have come from an ointment applied for a skin condition.
“Our investigation is continuing, and I don’t have definitive answers at this point,” Baffert said in a statement Saturday. “All I ask is that everyone not rush to judgment and allow the facts, evidence and science to come to light.”
If Medina Spirit is cleared and remains in the history books as the Kentucky Derby winner, the issue could fade into the background with the Horse Racing Safety and Integrity Act’s implementation on the horizon next summer. If this blood test shows any presence of the therapeutic medication that’s not allowed even in trace amounts on race day, it’ll be another blotch on Baffert’s reputation.
Medina Spirit and fellow Baffert-trained Concert Tour each passed three rounds of pre-Preakness drug tests as a condition of being able to run. Medina Spirit finished third and Concert Tour a disappointing ninth in a 10-horse field.
“We will evaluate everything, and Bob will see what direction he wants to go,” assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes said Sunday, hinting that Medina Spirit could bypass the Belmont. “We need to give him a little more time between races. Bob knows what to do, and I will feed him the information and he’ll tell us what to do.”
Some, like activist Marty Irby of Animal Wellness Action, didn’t think Medina Spirit should have raced Saturday, saying: “American horse racing and the Maryland Jockey Club dodged a bullet tonight despite playing Russian roulette with Medina Spirit’s physical well-being.
“There will likely forever be an asterisk by Medina Spirit’s name,” Irby said. “We’ll be anxiously awaiting to see what happens next as we approach the Belmont Stakes in New York.”
McCarthy plans to send Rombauer to Belmont Park and see how the horse is feeling before making a decision on the 1 ½-mile race. Trainer Steve Asmussen plans on entering Midnight Bourbon in the Belmont, which could feature the return of Brad Cox-trained Essential Quality and Derby runner-up Mandaloun.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, who watched longtime assistant McCarthy win the Preakness while he fell to 0-for-10 in the second leg of the Triple Crown, has a handful of Belmont candidates. Pletcher’s list includes Derby horses Known Agenda and Bourbonic and undefeated filly Malathaat, who romped in the Kentucky Oaks on April 30.
Derby third-place finisher Hot Rod Charlie and Japan-based France Go de Ina are other possible contenders.
New first: Jockey Flavien Prat finally got to hit the wire first in a Triple Crown race. It’s technically his second victory, but this one he got to enjoy at the finish line.
Prat was aboard Country House in the 2019 Kentucky Derby when he finished second behind Maximum Security. When Maximum Security became the first horse disqualified from that race for interference, Prat and 65-1 Country House were elevated to Derby champions.
“It’s a lot different when you cross the wire first,” Prat said. “You get that feeling where it’s a lot of joy. It was a lot different in the Derby, but I’m really proud of both races anyway.”
Sanitized Preakness: The Preakness was run in front of fans, but not the crowd of 100,000plus that usually packs Pimlico Race Course. Instead, attendance was capped at 10,000.
Racetrack employees held up signs reminding fans to wear masks — still a rule in Baltimore and at Pimlico on the day Maryland dropped its mask mandate for vaccinated people. Actual adherence to that was spotty at best.