While Rombauer’s victory in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday in Baltimore quieted the circus that has surrounded Medina Spirit since the colt’s positive test for the drug betamethasone, racing officials sought to put an end to it completely before it traveled to New York for the Belmont Stakes on June 5.Ĭhurchill Downs officials have made it clear that if a second sample confirms the presence of the drug, a corticosteroid injected into joints to reduce pain and swelling, the colt will be disqualified and Mandaloun, the runner-up, will be declared the winner. Baffert’s suspension will be based on information revealed during the course of the ongoing investigation in Kentucky, such as the post-Kentucky Derby test results of Medina Spirit,” O’Rourke said.
“A final determination regarding the length and terms of Mr. Baffert also frequently sends horses from his California base to compete in stakes races at Saratoga, such as the Travers Stakes, which is also known as the Midsummer Derby. Twice in recent years - in 2015 with American Pharoah and again three years later with Justify - Baffert’s horses completed the sport’s holy grail, the Triple Crown, at Belmont Park, the grand old racetrack on Long Island. “That responsibility demands the action taken today in the best interests of thoroughbred racing.” “In order to maintain a successful thoroughbred racing industry in New York, NYRA must protect the integrity of the sport for our fans, the betting public and racing participants,” O’Rourke said.
The ban extends to Baffert’s assistants as well. Neither Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer with seven Kentucky Derby victories, nor his horses will be allowed on the grounds of those New York racetracks, which will be costly to the trainer’s horse owners because important and lucrative races are run on them. But he also took into account Baffert’s “failed drug tests in the recent past, resulting in the assessment of penalties against him by thoroughbred racing regulators in Kentucky, California and Arkansas.” In a statement, David O’Rourke, chief executive of the New York Racing Association, cited the investigation into Medina Spirit’s victory on May 1 in the Kentucky Derby. New York horse racing officials on Monday barred the trainer Bob Baffert not only from entering the Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit in the Belmont Stakes, but also from running any of his horses at Belmont Park or at Saratoga Race Course this summer.
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