Medina Spirit disqualified from 2021 Kentucky Derby win, Bob Baffert suspended 90 days

After more than nine months of delay, litigation and laboratory tests, the 2021 Kentucky Derby finally reached at least a temporary resolution Monday when stewards disqualified Medina Spirit and suspended the deceased colt's Hall of Fame trainer, Bob Baffert, for 90 days.

The disqualification had seemed inevitable to racing officials because Kentucky racing regulations allow no detectable betamethasone in a horse’s system on race day. But Baffert's attorneys argued the ban applied only to injectable betamethasone; that Medina Spirit had absorbed the corticosteroid through the ointment Otomax; and that the concentration was insufficient to have any impact on America's most prestigious horse race.

Their argument did not prove persuasive. Seven days after a Feb. 14 hearing, the three stewards adjudicating the case -- Barbara Borden, Brooks Becraft and Tyler Picklesimer -- issued rulings disqualifying Medina Spirit, ordering the Derby purse to be redistributed and fining Baffert $7,500 in addition to his 90-day suspension.

“We are disappointed by the Commission’s ruling, but not surprised," said Baffert's attorney, Clark Brewster. "This ruling represents an egregious departure from both the facts and the law, but the numerous public statements by KHRC officials over the last several months have made perfectly clear that Bob Baffert’s fate was decided before we ever sat down for a hearing before the three stewards, one of whom is directly employed by Churchill Downs as the racing director at Turfway Park (Picklesimer). We will appeal, and we will prevail when the facts and rules are presented to detached, neutral decisionmakers."

Kentucky Derby disqualification: With Medina Spirit disqualified and Bob Baffert suspended, here’s what happens next

Runner-up Mandaloun on track to become Kentucky Derby winner

Pending that appeal, which Brewster said has already been filed, runner-up Mandaloun stands to become the winner of Derby 147 and further enhance the resume and the net worth of Louisville trainer Brad Cox, who had already set a North American earnings record in 2021 with $31 million in purses. The Derby winner's purse is worth $1.86 million. Cox would also benefit from fourth-place finisher Essential Quality being moved up to third place behind trainer Doug O'Neill's Hot Rod Charlie.

Churchill Downs issued a statement recognizing Mandaloun as the Derby winner and congratulating Cox, owner Juddmonte and jockey Florent Geroux.

"Winning the Kentucky Derby is one of the most exciting achievements in sports," the statement said, "and we look forward to celebrating Mandaloun on a future date in a way that is fitting of this rare distinction."

Churchill Downs plans to switch the paddock sign honoring Medina Spirit for one bearing Mandaloun's name Tuesday morning. The Kentucky Derby trophy, yet to be engraved, remains in the possession of the track.

Medina Spirit death: In death as in life, Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit still matters

Bob Baffert's suspension

Baffert's 90-day suspension is scheduled to start on March 8 and run through June 5, a span that would include the first two legs of the Triple Crown: the Derby and Preakness Stakes. The trainer has 10 days to request a review of the stewards' ruling by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission or to apply for a stay from the commission's executive director, Marc Guilfoil.

He may eventually take his case to Franklin Circuit Court, which could delay final resolution of the race for months or even years. The previous Derby drug disqualification, the 1968 case in which Dancer’s Image was taken down in favor of Forward Pass, was not ultimately resolved until owner Peter Fuller abandoned his court fight on behalf of Dancer's Image in 1973.

Medina Spirit bets: What happens to bets placed on Medina Spirit if Derby winner is disqualified?

Baffert's 90-day suspension reflected not only Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby positive, but a rash of violations in the year prior to the 2021 Derby. KHRC guidelines call for a 30-60-day suspension in the event of a third positive test within a one-year span for a Class C drug, but there is no formal provision for additional positives.

Gamine, a Baffert-trained filly, was disqualified in January, 2021, after testing positive for betamethasone following the 2020 Kentucky Oaks. Baffert also experienced a positive test at Del Mar and two on Arkansas Derby day at Oaklawn during 2020. The stewards' ruling referred to Medina Spirit's positive test as Baffert's fourth medication violation in a 365-day span, but it could have qualified as his fifth.

"We applaud the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission for taking action against American horse racing's most infamous violator, Bob Baffert, and are pleased to see some justice brought to the tragic life and death of Medina Spirit," said Marty Irby, executive director of Animal Wellness Action. "Baffert continues to drag horse racing through the mud in scandal after scandal, and we call on every racing jurisdiction in the nation to hold him accountable by reciprocating the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's suspension in their own state. We're elated that Baffert won't be participating in the upcoming 2022 Kentucky Derby and believe the horses will be better off, and the event will have more credibility, without him."

Though Baffert admitted Gamine’s betamethasone positive from the Oaks, while claiming the filly had been taken off the medication prior to the state’s 14-day withdrawal period, he bitterly disputed Medina Spirit had been treated with the same substance in confirming the initial test results, only to back down days later by acknowledging the horse had been treated for a skin condition with Otomax, an ointment containing betamethasone.

Baffert’s attorneys sought to draw a critical distinction by insisting Kentucky regulations applied only to the injectable drug and not the ointment. But regulators, including Guilfoil and Dr. Mary Scollay, executive director of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, clung to the letter of Kentucky law, which defines a positive test as the presence of a restricted or prohibited drug in a sample. KHRC general counsel Jennifer Wolsing told Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate in a June hearing that the method in which betamethasone is administered is "not differentiated" in Kentucky regulations.

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Baffert sued the KHRC to seek additional testing in an effort to confirm the origin of the betamethasone, and his attorneys claimed vindication when a New York lab reported Medina Spirit’s sample contained betamethasone valerate (which the ointment contains), but not the acetate version found in the injectable betamethasone. Though the attorneys have characterized the results as definitive, the report issued by the New York Drug Testing and Research Program included a caution that its research had not been peer reviewed.

While Scollay insisted the positive test meant a “non-negotiable” disqualification, regardless of the source of the substance, Baffert’s camp was also waging a public relations battle in an effort to minimize the trainer’s potential penalties and the impact on his business.

Mandaloun: Which horse came in second in the 2021 Kentucky Derby? What to know about Mandaloun

Despite an earlier two-year suspension imposed by Churchill Downs, and the approach of Derby 148, Baffert’s clients have mostly remained loyal. Seven different horses would have accumulated Derby qualifying points if they were not being trained by Baffert, and all but one of them remain in his barn. Of the 21 prep races eligible for qualifying points that have already been run, six have been won by Baffert horses.

Unless Baffert's owners move their horses to other trainers or the trainer somehow finesses the stewards' suspension and Churchill's ban, some of the year's most promising 3-year-olds will be unable to run for the roses. If that should diminish Derby 148, that's a price Churchill Downs appears willing to pay.

"The Derby's got deep roots," said Louisville-based trainer Dale Romans. "I think it would have diminished the Derby if he didn't get the penalty."

Tim Sullivan: 502-582-4650, tsullivan@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @TimSullivan714

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Medina Spirit disqualified from Kentucky Derby win, Baffert suspended