Medina Spirit’s 2021 Kentucky Derby win struck down. What’s next for Bob Baffert?
More than nine months after the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Kentucky racing stewards on Monday struck down Medina Spirit’s win.
In addition to announcing the official disqualification, stewards suspended Medina Spirit’s trainer, Bob Baffert, from racing in Kentucky for three months. Baffert was also fined $7,500.
Gov. Andy Beshear voiced support for the action and the process late Monday.
“I think the horse racing commission stuck to the processes in place ... for this type of thing that we hope never occurs. To change a process once something has happened because it’s not fast enough is the wrong thing to do,” Beshear said. “I think they made the decision that they think is right. ... The most important thing for the integrity of the sport was for them to get it right.
“I’m sure there will be other appeals from here. The commission and the sport set certain things that you cannot have in your system as a racehorse on raceday. And it appears here that, whether it was intentional or unintentional, that was violated. And they’ve enforced their regulations.”
The disqualification means that second-place finisher Mandaloun will be declared the winner. The rest of the field, including Hot Rod Charlie, who finished third, and Essential Quality, who finished fourth, also will move up in the official order of finish, for now at least.
All of Medina Spirit’s purse money must be forfeited as a result of the ruling. However, pari-mutuel wagering on the Kentucky Derby was not affected by this ruling.
“Today Churchill Downs recognizes Mandaloun as the winner of the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby and extends our congratulations to owner/breeder Juddmonte, trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux,” Churchill Downs said in a statement reacting to the stewards’ ruling Monday. “Winning the Kentucky Derby is one of the most exciting achievements in sports and we look forward to celebrating Mandaloun on a future date in a way that is fitting of this rare distinction.”
The ruling came after a daylong closed hearing last week with attorneys representing Baffert and horse owner Amr Zedan, who argued that the horse’s positive test results for betamethasone came from ointment rather than a joint injection.
For months, Baffert and Zedan delayed the stewards finding, fighting in court to have Medina Spirit’s blood and urine samples tested for other substances known to be in Otomax, the ointment with betamethasone. They eventually had to fly a urine sample to New York in a private jet, under escort, so that the testing could continue.
But in their ruling, the stewards found that the method of administration did not matter according to the regulations: The medication cannot be used during racing.
“Just very disappointed in the ruling,” Craig Robertson, Baffert’s attorney, told Horse Racing Nation on Monday. “I don’t think that it is correct. It runs contrary to the facts of this case and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission rules, so we will be immediately appealing.”
Attorney Clark Brewster, who also is representing Baffert, said in a statement that the ruling was not a surprise. “This ruling represents an egregious departure from both the facts and the law, but the numerous public statements by KHRC officials over the last several months have made perfectly clear that Bob Baffert’s fate was decided before we ever sat down for a hearing before the three stewards, one of whom is directly employed by Churchill Downs as the racing director at Turfway Park,” Brewster said. “We will appeal, and we will prevail when the facts and rules are presented to detached, neutral decisionmakers.”
Brewster said the stewards’ decision “robs Medina Spirit of a victory he earned.”
Medina Spirit gave Baffert a record seventh Kentucky Derby win. But shortly after the race authorities notified the trainer that the horse had tested positive for betamethasone.
Baffert at first publicly denied that the medication could have been in Medina Spirit’s system, then said that a skin cream used to treat a minor rash contained it.
After the medication was confirmed in a second test in another lab, Churchill Downs announced that Baffert would not be allowed to race at any of its racetracks and that he could not have a horse in the Kentucky Derby for two years. Baffert’s suspension handed down Monday by the racing stewards lasts from March 8 through June 5 of this year.
But until now, the Kentucky racing authorities had not acted; they were prohibited by regulations from speaking about the case although the racing commission said last week it is moving to change that rule to allow for greater transparency.
If Baffert’s attorney appeals, as he says, the case would be heard by an administrative law judge in an open hearing.
Medina Spirit died in December at Santa Anita; recently released necropsy results found the most likely cause of death was a heart attack.
This story was originally published February 21, 2022 at 1:43 PM.
