Kentucky Derby 2021 Winner Medina Spirit Fails Drug Test
There’s some drama revolving around the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
Medina Spirit, the horse that won the race, has tested positive for a drug, the horse’s trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Sunday (May 9), via Deadline.
There is now a question about potential disqualification.
Find out what happened…
The horse tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid. The drug is used in horse racing to control pain and inflammation, as well as to build red blood cells, key for endurance and oxygen uptake.
And while Medina Spirit has not yet been disqualified, another test is still pending. If that one’s positive too, Medina Spirit will become the second horse in Derby history to be disqualified.
Medina Spirit set off on the race at 12-1 odds, paid $26.20 to win, $12.00 to place and $7.60 to show, via NBC Sports.
Bob Baffert has seven Derby wins to date with the Medina Spirit win.
He also said he’s still planning to run Medina Spirit at the Preakness next week, the second part of the Triple Crown races. The trainer called the drug result “shocking” because the horse has “never been treated with betamethasone.”
“Yesterday I got the biggest gut-punch in racing for something I didn’t do. It’s disturbing. It’s an injustice to the horse,” he said to reporters.
Another one of his horses, Gamine, tested positive for betamethasone after last year’s Kentucky Oak.
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, I know everybody’s not out to get me, but there’s definitely something wrong. Why is it happening to me? There’s problems in racing, but it’s not Bob Baffert,” he continued.
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