Getty Imagesīut is it possible the drug had a long-term effect on the horse’s health? Afterwards, the horse failed a drug test and was stripped of the title. The matter remains under investigation by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.īaffert has discounted the amount of the betamethasone found in Medina Spirit - 21 picograms - as “very minute,” claiming that amount of the drug “wouldn’t affect the horse.” (A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.) Medina Spirit trainer Bob Baffert lifts the winning trophy at the Kentucky Derby.
He later said his vet used Otomax, a fungus-fighting skin ointment with the topical variety of betamethasone, to treat a rash on the horse’s hindquarters, applying it daily for a month until the day before the Derby. Baffert claimed Medina Spirit never got betamethasone, a drug allowed as an injection therapy that can’t be present in the blood on race day because it potentially boosts performance. The Hall of Fame trainer has a history of wins and failed drug tests in his stable and was found to have had 74 horses die under his care in his home state of California since 2000, according to a Washington Post report. “Churchill Downs will not tolerate it.”īaffert also got booted by the New York Racing Association, which will review his suspension in January. “Failure to comply with the rules and medication protocols jeopardizes the safety of the horses and jockeys, the integrity of our sport and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby and all who participate,” the statement added. Medina Spirit breeder Gail Rice walks a yearling at the Magic Oaks Farm in Citra, Fla. Baffert’s record of testing failures threatens public confidence in Thoroughbred racing and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby,” Churchill Downs Incorporated said in a statement.
Churchill Downs officials stripped Medina Spirit of the victory and banned his trainer, Bob Baffert, from entering his horses on any of their racetracks for two years. Pat McDonogh/Courier Journalįollowing his improbable win in Kentucky on May 1, the underdog colt tested positive for betamethasone, a pain-killing, anti-inflammatory steroid. So what did cause the death of Medina Spirit? Medina Spirit surveys the crowds at Churchill Downs one week before his Kentucky Derby victory. If they saw how much care these horses get they wouldn’t be saying that,” she said. “But there are still people saying the horse was doped up and that’s why he had a heart attack. “I don’t see how people can say that we’re abusing them. And then you start crying.”īut as upset as she is over the champion’s sudden passing, Rice is outraged that critics are now using his death as proof that the sport is inhumane and should be cancelled. “It was like no, you’re kidding me…this can’t be,” said Rice. Gail Rice, the breeder who helped Medina Spirit’s mother as she struggled to give birth to him three years ago, had trouble accepting that the Kentucky Derby winner collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack Monday while training at the Santa Anita track in California. She’d brought him into the world as a baby - and now can’t believe he is gone. Judge nullifies Bob Baffert’s NYRA suspension in drug scandal twistīob Baffert, Medina Spirit owners sue Kentucky racing officials Medina Spirit’s shocking death is yet another reason we should end horse racingĬontroversial Kentucky Derby winner dead after track workout