Controversial 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit died Monday following a workout at Santa Anita Park in California.
“It is with great sadness that I am reporting Medina Spirit passed away today from a heart attack at Santa Anita following a workout,” legendary trainer Bob Baffert said in a statement. “My entire barn is devastated by this news. Medina Spirit was a great champion, a member of our family who was loved by all, and we are deeply mourning his loss. I will always cherish the proud and personal memories of Medina Spirit and his tremendous spirit.”
The horse’s win at the Kentucky Derby has been under investigation since Medina Spirit tested positive for having over double the legal limit of the anti-inflammatory betamethasone following the race. Baffert has been suspended by Churchill Downs while the investigation into the positive test takes place, and is barred from entering a horse in the 2022 and 2023 Kentucky Derby. At the time of his death, Medina Spirit had yet to be disqualified from his Derby win.
Santa Anita Park put out a statement following the news:
Following the completion of a routine morning workout, Medina Spirit collapsed on the track at Santa Anita Park and died suddenly of a probable cardiac event according to the on site veterinary team who attended to him.
The Santa Anita Park veterinary team, led by Senior Veterinarian Dr. Laurie Bohannon, immediately took blood, hair and urine samples from Medina Spirit. Those samples were sent to the California Horse Racing Board. A full necropsy, as per protocol in California, run by the University of California – Davis’ School of Veterinary Medicine will be performed to try and ascertain the exact cause of this sudden death. The results of the necropsy and toxicology studies will be released by the California Horse Racing Board as part of their inquiry into the cause of this unfortunate event.
Medina Spirit will be missed by all those who worked with and cared for him. He was owned by Zedan Racing Stables and trained by Bob Baffert.
Baffert initially denied giving the drug to the horse, before eventually admitting that the anti-fungal ointment Otomax had been applied to Medina Spirit and was more than likely the reason for the positive test:
Following the Santa Anita Derby, MEDINA SPIRIT developed dermatitis on his hind end. I had him checked out by veterinarian who recommended the use of an anti-fungal ointment called Otomax. The veterinary recommendation was to apply this ointment daily to give the horse relief, help heal the dermatitis, and prevent dirt from spreading. My barn followed this recommendation and MEDINA SPIRIT was treated with Otomax once a day up until the day before the Kentucky Derby. Yesterday, I was informed that one of the substances in Otomax was betamethasone. While we do not know definitively that this was the source of the alleged 21 picograms found in Medina Spirit’s post-race blood sample, and our investigation is continuing, I have been told by equine pharmacology experts that this could explain the test results. As such, I wanted to be forthright about this fact as soon as I learned of this information.
Joe Morgan is the Sports Reporter for The Daily Wire. Most recently, Morgan covered the Clippers, Lakers, and the NBA for Sporting News. Send your sports questions to [email protected].