Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a post-race drug test, Hall of Fame coach Bob Baffert said Sunday.
This is the latest doping scandal for horse racing and possibly the sport's top coach.
The jockey who rode Medina Spirit was John R. Velázquez, the four-time Derby winner born in Puerto Rico.
Flanked by his attorney Craig Robertson at a morning news conference at the Churchill Downs racing complex on Sunday, Baffert said Medina Spirit was found to have 21 picograms of the steroid betamethasone, twice the legal threshold for Kentucky racing, in one post-race sign.
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Steroids are used to
increase muscle strength.
This is the same one found in the Gamine system
, another Baffert-trained horse that finished third at Kentucky Oaks last September.
Churchill Downs clarified in a statement that, if the conclusions hold, "Medina Spirit's results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun will be declared the winner."
“Given the seriousness of the alleged infraction,
Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert,
the Medina Spirit trainer, from the entry of any horse at Churchill Downs Racecourse.
We will await the conclusion of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission investigation before taking further action, ”he added.
This Peruvian family raises Paso horses to make Marinera Norteña known in the US
Sept.
25, 202002: 38
Baffert denied wrongdoing and said he did not know how Medina Spirit could have tested positive.
And he assured that Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone and described it as "a complete injustice."
"I took the biggest blow to the gut in racing for something I didn't do," said Baffert, who promised to be transparent with race investigators.
The coach said he received news of the positive test from Kentucky officials on Saturday and that
Medina Spirit has not yet been officially disqualified from the Kentucky Derby,
although this could occur after other tests and trials are completed.
"This shouldn't have happened," Baffert said.
"There is a problem somewhere. It did not come from us."
Medina Spirit, ridden by Puerto Rican John Velázquez, wins the 147th edition of the Kentucky Derby, on Saturday, May 1, 2021, in Louisville
Medina Spirit
won the Kentucky Derby on May 1
.
He started at the top and barely lost ground during the race.
Mandaloun came in second and Hot Rod Charlie in third.
Baffert, a two-time winner of the Southern California Triple Crown, said after the race: "I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I'll tell you what:
that little horse has a heart
.
"
The
three-year-old horse
was bought as a colt for $ 1,000 and then again in 2020 for $ 35,000, which is little money for an event like the Derby.
The horse was not a favorite for the first of the 2021 Triple Crown races. The favorite was the gray Essential Quality colt.
There has been some controversy surrounding this horse after a complaint was filed against its owner, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.
The Derby is the
longest running sporting event in the United States
, according to its website.
It dates from 1875.
With information from AP.
