Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit on Tuesday was allowed to enter the upcoming Preakness Stakes race, with conditions, despite failing a drug test after the Derby victory.
The conditions including “a binding commitment” from Medina Spirit’s trainer Bob Baffert for “full transparency of medical and testing results that will allow for all results to be released to the public,” Maryland Jockey Club and 1/St Racing said in a statement.
The 146th running of the Preakness, which is the second leg of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, is set for Saturday at Pimlico Race Court in Baltimore.
Baffert on Sunday disclosed that Medina Spirit tested positive for 21 picograms of the steroid betamethasone, 11 picograms above the legal limit, on the day of the race at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
Baffert, who was suspended indefinitely from Churchill Downs as a result of the failed first test, said at the time that he did not know how the steroid, which is normally used to treat a horse’s joints, entered Medina Spirit’s system.
“I got the biggest gut-punch in racing, for something I didn’t do,” Baffert said Sunday.
If a second round of testing confirms the drug was in the horse, Medina Spirit will be disqualified as the Derby winner.
On Tuesday, before the Preakness Stakes agreed to allow his horse to run, Baffert issued a statement through his lawyer saying that Medina Spirit had been treated with an antifungal ointment containing betamethasone once a day leading up to the Kentucky Derby, which ran on May 1.
“My investigation is continuing, and we do not know for sure if this ointment was the cause of the test results, or if the test results are even accurate, as they have yet to be confirmed by the split sample,” Baffert said.
“I have been told that a finding of a small amount, such as 21 picograms, could be consistent with application of this type of ointment.”
Just two other horses in the 147-year history of the Kentucky Derby have been disqualified, according to the Associated Press.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.