Medina Spirit is no longer the winner of last year's Kentucky Derby. At least for now.
On Monday, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted to strip the since-deceased colt of his victory after he tested positive for a legal medication banned on race day. It's only the third time a winner has been disqualified in the 146-year history of the most famous horse race.
With the disqualification, Mandaloun becomes the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. However, there will be no refunds or payouts for anyone who bet on the horse. As for bettors, a class-action suit was filed and is working its way forward in the courts.
In addition, trainer Bob Baffert was suspended 90 days and fined $7,500. The winner's purse of $1.86 million will have to be returned. It's expected that an appeal will be filed.
The last time a horse was disqualified for a prohibited substance was 1968 when Dancer's Image was removed as the winner and Forward Pass was given the victory. It took more than four years to settle the case. The only other disqualification was in 2019 when Maximum Security was penalized because of interference.
This bizarre tale of horse racing intrigue started one week after Medina Spirit was officially declared the winner of the Derby. It has taken almost 10 months to get to the first step in clarifying this matter. Baffert held a hastily called news conference outside his barn at Churchill Downs to say he was informed that Medina Spirit had tested positive for betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory. It is not a performance-enhancing drug in the traditional sense, other than if a horse has no health problems, it might run better.
Baffert said he had no idea how the medication got into Medina Spirit and then went on a media campaign proclaiming his innocence. But in two days he learned the horse had been treated with an ointment, which contained betamethasone, for a rash on his hind quarters.
Baffert's attorneys tried to use the defense that the rule that was violated only covers betamethasone that is injected intra-articularly, not by ointment. Additional tests were performed by Baffert's attorneys that showed the presence of a secondary substance that is found only in the ointment. The KHRC didn't accept that argument.
The Hall of Fame trainer has been banned from racing at the signature Louisville track and other tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. for two years. Churchill Downs Inc. cited five medication positives in about a year's time by horses trained by Baffert. Two of the positives, in Arkansas, were due to contamination that affected more than just Baffert's horses and were seemingly out of his control.
Baffert is not only banned from Churchill Downs, but horses trained by him are ineligible to receive Kentucky Derby qualifying points. He has built his business around being able to get horses to the Kentucky Derby, a race he has won seven times, now dropped to six.
So far, qualifying points are small and not enough to get a horse to the starting gate. But in a couple of weeks there will be qualifying races worth 50 points, escalating to 100 points a month later, making the winner a near certainty to make the Kentucky Derby field. Now is the time when owners will have to decide to stick with Baffert and miss the Kentucky Derby or move their horses to another trainer and possibly be eligible to run. It's expected Baffert will try to file litigation to get that reversed, too, but time is running out.
The New York Racing Association is also trying to ban Baffert from its tracks, even though he has had no medication violations in that state. A weeklong hearing was held in late January and a decision is pending.
After the Kentucky Derby, Medina Spirit was allowed to run in the Preakness under strict testing protocols and finished third. He was then given a break and returned to win the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar before beating older horses in the Awesome Again at Santa Anita. His last race turned out to be the Breeders' Cup Classic, where he finished second to Knicks' Go, who was selected horse of the year.
But on Dec. 6, after finishing a workout at Santa Anita, the horse collapsed and died on the track in what was thought to be a heart attack. A necropsy was performed and the cause of death could not be definitively determined. There were signs that it was cardiac related, but other causes could not be ruled out. There were no drugs, other than those previously reported by his veterinarian, found in his system.
It can't be said with certainty that the decision to disqualify Medina Spirit will hold up. There is likely more litigation ahead.
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(Cherwa is a special correspondent.)
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