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Medina Spirit was three years old
Photo: Rob Carr / Getty Images
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit died of a heart attack on Monday after training at a California racetrack.
The lawyer of the trainer Bob Baffert announced this.
The horse collapsed in Santa Anita Park.
The exact circumstances of the death are still being investigated.
Medina Spirit had won the Kentucky Derby in May under jockey John Velazquez by half a length and gave coach Baffert the seventh victory in the prestigious race.
Subsequently, a positive doping test was found in the horse.
Betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory steroid that can be administered for the last 14 days before a race at the latest, has been proven in Medina Spirit.
Baffert said at the time that he had not given the stallion the remedy.
Baffert later admitted to giving Medina Spirit an ointment containing a prohibited substance to relieve a rash.
A laboratory in New York confirmed this claim.
“My entire stable is devastated by this news.
Medina Spirit was a great champion, a member of our family who was loved by everyone, and we mourn him very much, ”said Baffert on the death of Medina Spirit.
Baffert, one of the most famous trainers in the world, has been targeted by the state horse racing authorities in recent years after horses from his stables tested positive for prohibited substances.
After Medina Spirit's drug test, Baffert was suspended from Churchill Downs and banned from entering horses for the 2022 and 2023 Kentucky Derbies.
The New York Racing Association also banned him from using horses on their racetracks in Belmont, Saratoga and Aqueduct.
Medina Spirit, three years old, had five wins out of ten starts and earnings of $ 3,545,200, according to Equibase.
The stallion was owned by Amr Zedan from Saudi Arabia, who competes under the name Zedan Racing Stables.
jan / AP