Will Medina Spirit's name be on the 2022 Kentucky Derby mint julep glass? What to know
If you find yourself squinting to find the winner of the 147th Kentucky Derby on this year's official mint julep glass, don't blame it on the bourbon.
In late fall 2021, with Medina Spirit's finish at the 2021 Run for the Roses under investigation, Churchill Downs opted for an asterisk in place of the winning thoroughbred's name when placing its order for the collectible glasses.
Glasses for the 148th Kentucky Derby were ordered six months in advance of the Kentucky Derby, which this year will be held on May 7. With that much lead time required for production, Churchill Downs' best option was to leave the 2021 winner blank.
"The only other time this happened, the winner's name flip-flopped for years," Tonya Ablen, director of communications at Churchill Downs told the Courier Journal. "We didn't want that to happen again."
Ablen is referring to when Dancer’s Image failed a drug test following his victory in the 1968 Kentucky Derby. It took nearly four years of legal maneuvers and appeals before the Kentucky Court of Appeals decided the case in April of 1972 and ultimately made Forward Pass the winner.
Kentucky Derby disqualification: Medina Spirit disqualified from 2021 Kentucky Derby win, Bob Baffert suspended 90 days
Monday’s disqualification of Medina Spirit as the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner came more than nine months after last year’s Kentucky Derby. Stewards disqualified Medina Spirit after the horse tested positive for betamethasone, an otherwise legal corticosteroid that is not legal if found in a horse’s blood on race day.
Along with the disqualification of Medina Spirit, stewards imposed a 90-day suspension and a $7,500 fine on trainer Bob Baffert.
With the disqualification, Mandaloun has been named the winner of the 147th Kentucky Derby. Churchill Downs "extends our congratulations to owner/breeder Juddmonte, trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux. 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."
Since its inception in 1938, the Kentucky Derby glass — which was originally nothing more than a water glass used in the track's dining areas — has grown in popularity and is now viewed by many authorities as the leading Kentucky Derby collectible. Today more than 750,000 officially-licensed glasses are printed each year and more than two-thirds of those are sold off-track for private parties.
Kentucky Derby disqualification: With Medina Spirit disqualified and Bob Baffert suspended, here’s what happens next
Kentucky winners dating back to Aristides in 1875 are listed in order on each mint julep glass. The Kentucky Oaks received its first-ever glass in 2005 with a limited trial order of 7,200.
This year's asterisk in lieu of a winner isn't the only oddity for the glass in recent years. In 2020, the unique circumstances surrounding the postponement of Kentucky Derby 146 due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant the glasses for the race, which took place Sept. 5, were printed with the race's original date, May 2, 2020
Reach Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com or Twitter @kirbylouisville.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Will Medina Spirit be on the 2022 Kentucky Derby mint julep glass
