After Agreement Reached, Medina Spirit Cleared to Race in Preakness Stakes
Kentucky Derby Winner Medina Spirit Allowed to Race in Triple Crown
Medina Spirit, trained by Bob Baffert, has been cleared to enter the Triple Crown race on May 15 after failing a drug test. The Maryland Racing Commission and Baffert reached an agreement for terms that would allow Medina Spirit to compete under certain conditions.
Earlier this week, Baffert has denied any wrongdoing and stated that the colt, to his knowledge, was not treated with the steroid betamethasone—the substance that Medina Spirit tested positive for. On Monday, Baffert commented on the allegations: “I got the biggest gut-puncb in racing, for something I didn’t do”. Later on Tuesday Baffert and his attorneys issued a statement announcing that Medina Spirit was indeed treated with an antifungal ointment that contained the steroid.
Baffert’s lawyers are reporting that Medina Spirit was being treated for dermatitis ahead of the May 1 race and suggested that an equine pharmacology expert could further elaborate on the test results. Medina Spirit tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, which is an ingredient in topical therapeutic ointments given to horses to help their joints. Despite the miniscule amount of steroid being present in the horse’s system, trace amounts of the substance being detected is worthy of a violation.
Additional Testing Administered by Maryland’s Chief Veterinary Officer
The chief veterinary officer for Maryland Racing, Dr. Dionne Benson, said at the Preakness draw that testing results for three of Baffert’s horses, including Medina Spirit, are expected on Friday. Additional tests were administered on top of rudimentary postrace blood tests. Benson stated, “[The additional tests] will allow us to ensure that if there is or was any betamethasone or any other medications, whether therapeutic or illegal, in the horse, we will know them before the race . . . traditionally most of the testing now will occur after the race and this allows us to, instead of addressing the issue after the fact, to prevent the issue from becoming a problem”.
Dr. Benson said that if the steroid is detected by laboratory testing, Baffert will be asked to scratch that horse, and will be disqualified from the Derby if a second round of testing indicates levels of betamethasone in the horse’s system, and the runner-up Mandaloun will be named the winner.
