What happened to the Baffert Kentucky Derby drug hearing? Here’s what we know.
If you’ve been waiting on pins and needles for an official ruling from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in the Medina Spirit drug case, you’re going to have to wait a bit longer.
A hearing originally scheduled for Feb. 7 with Kentucky racing stewards over the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner’s drug positive was postponed, according to Clark Brewster, attorney for trainer Bob Baffert and Zedan Stables, which owned the late racehorse.
Brewster said Thursday that the hearing is now set for 10:30 a.m. Feb. 14 via Zoom. Kentucky regulations mandate that stewards hearings are closed; officials are prohibited from commenting on matters under investigation beforehand.
The ruling will be made public once the decision is official. If Baffert is stripped of the Derby purse and win, he is expected to appeal.
After winning the race on May 1, Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone, a medication that is prohibited during races under Kentucky regulations.
Baffert’s attorneys sought additional testing that they say proves the medication was administered as an ointment, not a shot but it isn’t clear that will matter.
Brewster said that he thinks it should.
“Our position is very clear, based on the rules and the facts, and we believe anyone who looks at it will agree unless they don’t understand it or there’s an element of bias,” Brewster said. “We’re fully aware of the reported positive, but we had further testing done, and that has a great deal of significance.”
Baffert also is awaiting the results of a four-day hearing on an attempt to ban him from racing in New York. And he is prohibited from racing at Churchill Downs or properties owned by the company. Horses that he trains have been participating in Derby prep races but have not been earning points toward entry in this year’s Kentucky Derby, which is May 7.
Medina Spirit died in December in California; results of the necropsy have not been released.
