The 2021 Kentucky Derby winner lost his crown after testing positive for a banned substance following the race.
Medina Spirit has been disqualified as the 2021 Kentucky Derby champion and trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended for 90 days after the horse tested positive for a banned medication, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission announced Monday.
Baffert, who was already suspended by host racetrack Churchill Downs and barred from entering horses in the 2022 and 2023 Kentucky Derbies, was also fined $7,500 and forced to forfeit all purse money from Medina Spirit‘s win.
Mandaloun, who originally finished second in the race last May, was officially been recognized as the winner of the 147th Kentucky Derby by Churchill Downs on Monday.
“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,” the racetrack said 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.”
Baffert is allowed to appeal the suspension, but it remains unclear at this time if he plans to do so.
Medina Spirit‘s victory was called into question soon after the 2021 race when the horse tested positive for more than double the legal amount of the drug betamethasone in a postrace sample. Although betamethasone is legal in Kentucky, it is not allowed on race day.
Medina Spirit died in December at Santa Anita Park in California on Dec. 6 following a workout. At the time, Baffert said that the three-year-old colt suffered a heart attack, but a necropsy released earlier this month revealed no definitive cause of death.
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