Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit collapsed and died after a workout Monday at Santa Anita.
More than five weeks since the Kentucky Derby and with the Belmont Stakes over, the Triple Crown season is still muddled in uncertainty. Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit could be disqualified from the Derby, making Belmont winner Essential Quality probably the best horse in what was a gray area of a Triple Crown season.
Even if one of Bob Baffert’s myriad excuses for a positive drug test at the Kentucky Derby somehow passes muster — to hear him tell it, he’s the innocent victim of A) cancel culture pervading the nation, B) a groom who relieved himself in the barn, C) a veterinarian who prescribed the drug in question, or D) the dog ate his homework, we presume — there is no chance of him getting his reputation back.
Medina Spirit is set to run in the Preakness on Saturday to go for the second leg of the Triple Crown, as long as the Kentucky Derby winner passes a series of additional drug tests.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was treated with an antifungal ointment containing the steroid betamethasone that may have caused the horse to fail a postrace drug test, trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is headed to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes while trainer Bob Baffert said Monday that he won’t attend the race to avoid being a distraction in the wake of scrutiny following the colt’s failed postrace drug test.
Essential Quality was set Tuesday as a 2-1 favorite for the Belmont Stakes, which will be run Saturday without a horse from trainer Bob Baffert pending an investigation into Medina Spirit's failed drug test after winning the Kentucky Derby.
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test, once again raising questions about horse doping in the sport when the colt's blood sample was found to be in violation of the state's medication protocols for racehorses.
May 11
Medina Spirit's victory in the Kentucky Derby is in serious jeopardy because of a failed postrace drug test, one that led Churchill Downs to suspend Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert on Sunday in the latest scandal to plague the sport.
May 10
May 8
