Medina Spirit Stripped of 2021 Kentucky Derby Title, Bob Baffert Suspended 90 Days

Medina Spirit has been disqualified as the 2021 Kentucky Derby champion and trainer Bob Baffert has been suspended for 90 days after the since-deceased 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 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.”

Clark Brewster, an attorney for Baffert, said that he plans to appeal the ruling.

“We are disappointed by the Commission‘s ruling, but not surprised,” Brewster said in a statement. “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.”

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 corticosteroid betamethasone in a post-race sample. Although betamethasone is legal in Kentucky, it is not allowed on race day.

Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer whose horses have won six Kentucky Derbies, denied any wrongdoing after the banned substance was discovered following the race. He later admitted that the horse had been administered a topical ointment containing betamethasone for a skin inflammation, but maintained that Medina Spirit would have won the race with or without the ointment.

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.