KY Derby update...

 
Photo by: Barbara D. Livingston
The Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, failed a post-race drug test, once more putting the practices of his Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, the embattled sport's most recognizable personality, under uncomfortable scrutiny. 

If disqualified, Medina Spirit would be stripped of the Derby title and the winning purse, becoming only the third horse in the 147-year history of the race to receive the penalty after finishing first. The colt cannot be disqualified until testing of a sample collected at the same time as the first sample confirms the result. Baffert will then have the opportunity to appeal. 

In a statement, Churchill Downs officials said that if Medina Spirit's positive test were confirmed, the Derby's runner-up, Mandaloun, would be declared the winner. 

"Given the seriousness of the alleged offense, Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert, the trainer of Medina Spirit, from entering and horse races at Churchill Downs Racetrack." -the statement said

In a news conference Sunday morning outside his barn at Churchill Downs, Baffert said neither him nor anyone on his team administered the drug betamethasone to Medina Spirit. He insisted the colt had not been treated with the drug, a corticosteroid injected into joints to reduce pain and swelling. 

"I was totally shocked when I heard this news," Baffert said. "I'm still trying to absorb it. I am the most scrutinized trainer. And I am OK with that. The last thing I want to do is something that would jeopardize the greatest sport." 

He added: "I'm worried about the sport. This is a pretty serious accusation. We are going to get to the bottom of it. We didn't do it."

With Medina Spirit's win on May 1, Baffert has won his seventh Kentucky Derby, surpassing the record set by Ben Jones, who collected his blankets of roses in 1938, 1941, 1944, 1948, 1949 and 1952. 

At 12-to-1 odds, Medina Spirit was a surprising winner of America's most famous race. The colt was sold as a yearling for only $1,000 and was a bargain for his current owner, Amr Zedan of Saudia Arabia, at $35,000. Baffert said he intends to run the colt in the 146th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday in Baltimore. 

"There's problems in racing," Baffert said. "But it's not Bob Baffert."

The positive test, however, adds to the questions surrounding Baffert. Regulators in Arkansas last month upheld a ruling that a banned substance had been found in two of his horses, but they decided to reduce his penalty of suspension to a fine. 

Medina Spirit tested positive for the same substance found last year in Baffert's Gamine after the filly finished third in the Kentucky Oaks. Gamine was disqualified and her owners were denied the $120,000 purse for her third-place finish. Baffert was fined $1,500. 

At stake for Zedan is the  Derby's $1.8 million first-place check, which would be awarded to the owners of Mandaloun. Bettors who backed Madina Spirit, however, would keep their winnings, while supporters of Mandaloun would be left with the losing tickets. 

Baffert has gained the enmity of rivals who believe he has purposefully cheated, suspicions have fueled by 30 drug test that his horses have failed over the past 4 decades, including 5 in a little more than a year. 

The cases took months, if not years, to adjudicate and were met mostly with modest fines or brief suspensions, as Baffert asserted he did nothing wrong and blamed environmental contamination or human error for the results. 

- Article by Joe Drape
- Article link

Well thank you everybody for reading that all the way through if you did :D I typed it all but I just rewrote the main points from this article which i also linked above as well. So basically, Medina Spirit could be disqualified :( What really gets me if people are now dissing on him, the horse, who could not help the fact that it happened. Im not gonna share those, but if you want to look at those they are everywhere too. Just thought id share that with yall because idk if yall keep up with these things. Anywho, yea DX


If I did not credit anything properly, let me know and ill fix it ♥ Thank you!


Another story about Bob Baffert if you want to, but this doesn't really have anything to do with Medina Spirit, just wanted to add it in case anyone else wanted to read about it too ♥
 
Photo by: Barbara D. Livingston 
Thus far, Baffert has issued two statements about the report, which details how Justify tested positive after the Santa Anita Derby for above-threshold levels of a drug called scopolamine. It also shows how the Califonia Horse Racing Board essentially threw out the result and worked to keep the positive test from becoming public, raising significant questions about conflicts of interest with board members and whether Baffert received preferential treatment. 

The first statement on Thursday morning, issued by Baffert's attorney and addressed to Times reporter Joe Drape, called the story"long on sensationalism, short on facts, and does a great disservice to Mr. Baffert, JUSTIFY, and the entire horse industry." 

In a second statement attributed to Baffert himself, he denied giving scopolamine to the horse and attributed the positive test to "environmental contamination caused by the presence of Jimson Weed in feed, a naturally growing substance in areas where hay and straw are produced in California" while pointing out that Justify had clean drug test after all three Triple Crown races.

And because of what's at stake here, Baffert needs to step up and answer some questions, not hide behind coordinated talking points 15 hours after the story broke. (According to Drape, Baffert declined multiple requests to discuss the issue before the story was published, which isn't a great look either, given the seriousness of the allegations. 

Regardless of whether scopolamine enhances performance or not- that's another excuse some horse-facing folks are using today- and regardless of whether 200 nanograms per millimeter could even be attained through contamination, it's still a positive test above the threshold level allowed by California regulations. And if you're going to attribute to the jimson weed, aren't there some obvious follow-ups here? Did other horses in this barn test positive for scopolamine and at similar levels? If not, that would seem to be relevant. 

According to the statement from Baffert's attorney, W. Craig Robertson, however, after notification of the positive test, Robertson told California regulators he "would vigorously defend Mr. Baffert should the CHRB pursue an action to either disqualify Justify or suspend Mr. Baffer," and that the board was left with a choice to "either pursue a frivolous case that had no merit at great taxpayer expense- or exercise reason and common sense and decide to take no further action."

Article link
Article by Dan Wolken

Last edited on 2021-05-10 at 15:01:02 by ﷼૮૨εร૮εɳƭ ૮૨εεҡ รƭαɓℓεร®

Surprise, Surprise. Baffert is known for drugging and over drugging the horses he trains. He should probably be banned from the sport all together. 

Yea, hes had multiple accounts of investigations but ALWAYS ends up with just fines or short-term suspensions, at this point they should have figured out something isn't right.

Last edited on 2021-05-09 at 16:21:22 by ﷼૮૨εร૮εɳƭ ૮૨εεҡ รƭαɓℓεร®

I agree. When will they say enough is enough? 

Hopefully soon. Thats got to suck for Medina Spirits owner too. I don't know why they would still let him train horses. 

So does this mean Essential Quality places 3rd? lol I had a hefty bet on that fella! 

I believe that baffert has only received a suspension agian, im not 100 percent sure though. When is enough going to be enough

Well I guess my opionion on Baffert has changed. Looked it up and Justify the 2018 Triple Crown winner failed a drug test aswell. And Justify is my favorite racehorse and it hurts me to know that he may of been drugged.

Tons of racehorses are drugged, certain amounts of certain drugs are legal. I still think it's wrong because horses shouldn't have to be on pain killers to perform, that is just asking for trouble. I think the biggest issue with Baffert's horses is they are over the allowed dosage, but I'm not 100% sure. For now he is just suspended from Churchill Downs until it is further investigated. I'm sure he will get a slap on the wrist and pay a couple thousand in fines and be right back at it. 

Whether or not they disqualify him won't make a difference with the bets unfortunately. 

@Elegy Quarter Horses, im not sure about that, ill check it out and give you an update when I find out! If he does places 3rd, it does not change the bets though :(

@Sparky, I looked and they are still waiting on the drug test to confirm, and if it positive will then do another investigation and then have the consequences given. As of right now, I think he has just been suspended from certain racetracks. 

@Horegirl, there is a whole story behind that too and ill add that on as well in a little bit 

@Nirvanic, yea it really sucks that they do that to the horses. And when they load them up on the pain killers, if they are injured the horse isn't going to know and is going to keep running on that injury and who knows what could happen. There are lots of stories of what has happened to racehorses when they are on pain killers and run, but people still do it. 

Like I said to Horsegirl, I will add the story of Justify, who Baffert was also his trainer at the time of his KY Derby win.