Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s failed drug test is CONFIRMED: Colt may be disqualified and its owner could have to forfeit $1.8 million winnings
A second blood sample from Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit has also been found to contain the steroid betamethasone, confirming a previous failed test and likely sealing the colt’s fate as only the second horse in the race’s 147-year history to be disqualified over a failed drug test.
An official announcement has not yet been released, but a laboratory at the University of California, Davis confirmed that a second post-race sample found a prohibited level of the corticosteroid, which is injected to reduce pain and swelling. Clark Brewster, a lawyer who represents Medina Spirit owner Amr Zedan revealed the failed test to The New York Times.
In a text message to the Times, Brewster said the lab did not test for other compounds in the blood and urine, ‘which could prove the trace positive came from an inadvertent and materially inconsequential contamination sourced from a topical ointment used to treat Medina Spirit for a skin lesion on his hip.’
Trainer Bob Baffert previously claimed that only 21 picograms of betamethasone were found in Medina Spirit’s blood while suggesting that an ointment used to treat the colt’s skin condition likely contaminated the samples.
This is the fifth violation for Baffert over the last 13 months. He was previously fined in Kentucky and Arkansas, but managed to avoid a ban in Arkansas following an appeal.
A second blood sample from Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit has also been found to contain the steroid betamethasone, confirming a previous failed test and likely sealing the colt’s fate as only the second horse in the race’s 147-year history to be disqualified over a failed drug test
Trainer Bob Baffert (L) Jockey John Velazquez (C) and Horse Owner Amr Zedan hold up the winners trophy after the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 1
