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Medina Spirit’s Kentucky Derby win is no more.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced on Monday that the late horse, who won the first leg of the Triple Crown in 2021, has been disqualified from its Kentucky Derby victory and trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended for 90 days as a result of labs finding the steroid betamethasone in the horse’s blood.
The stewards also ruled that all purse money from Medina Spirit’s Kentucky Derby win had to be forfeited. The $1.8 million purse for first place and official win goes to Mandaloun, who placed second in the race.
“Today Churchill Downs recognizes Mandaloun as the winner of the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby and extends our congratulations to owner/breeder Juddmonte, trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux,” Churchill Downs wrote in a statement. “Winning the Kentucky Derby is one of the most exciting achievements in sports and we look forward to celebrating Mandaloun on a future date in a way that is fitting of this rare distinction.”
The ruling moves Baffert back into a tie for the most Kentucky Derby wins by a trainer, with six, after he had temporarily moved into sole possession of first place with seven.
A week after Medina Spirit placed first in the Kentucky Derby, a drug test revealed he had tested positive for betamethasone, which is used to treat pain and inflammation.
Baffert eventually claimed Medina Spirit had been treated for dermatitis leading up to the race with the anti-fungal ointment Otomax, which contains betamethasone. His lawyers argued that the ban only applied to injectable betamethasone, according to the Courier-Journal, but after an investigation, Medina Spirit was officially stripped of the win.
The 3-year-old colt collapsed and died after a workout in December.
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