Tag: 2021 Kentucky Derby

A NYRA three-member panel suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert until the end of January. (Image: Susie Raisher/NYRA Photo)

Three-Member NYRA Panel Suspends Bob Baffert Until January

After taking two months to review its hearing report, the New York Racing Association suspended trainer Bob Baffert for 365 calendar days, effective immediately. The three-person hearing panel that reviewed Judge O. Peter Sherwood’s 50-page report from the April hearing credits Baffert with 59 days served. That came via NYRA’s […]

Medina Spirit's half-length victory over Mandaloun in last year's Kentucky Derby was overturned Monday. Mandaloun was declared the official winner after Medina Spirit was disqualified for a drug violation. (Image: Coady Photography)

Stewards Strip Medina Spirit of 2021 Kentucky Derby Title

After nine months, numerous fits and starts and several legal challenges, Kentucky Horse Racing Commission stewards disqualified Medina Spirit as winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The Monday decision came as a result of Medina Spirit failing a drug test for the banned-on-race day, anti-inflammatory betamethasone. Along with the ruling, […]

Medina Spirit takes it all in Derby week last April. The late Derby champion will get a steward's hearing with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission regarding his Derby win Feb. 7. (Image: Pat McDonogh/Courier-Journal)

Medina Spirit’s Kentucky Derby Hearing Scheduled for Feb. 7

During his testimony in the ongoing hearing regarding his eligibility to run at New York Racing Association tracks, trainer Bob Baffert confirmed Thursday that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has scheduled a Feb. 7 hearing involving Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. Baffert testified for three hours during the fourth day […]

California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) called for the California Horse Racing Board to exhibit transparency in its investigation of Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit's sudden death. (Image: Jay Calderon/Desert Sun)

California Senator Feinstein Calls Out CHRB on Medina Spirit Investigation

California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, one of the Senate co-sponsors of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 and a frequent critic of horse racing, wrote a letter to the California Horse Racing Board seeking transparency in the sudden death of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. In the […]

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit collapsed and died Monday morning after a workout at Santa Anita Park. The 3-year-old colt never finished out of the money in 10 career races. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Derby Champion Medina Spirit Dies of Apparent Heart Attack After Workout

The sporting world beyond horse racing was shocked Monday morning when 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit suddenly died of an apparent heart attack after a morning workout at Santa Anita Park. The Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old had just finished a five-furlong work in 1:01.40 when he collapsed. Santa Anita’s onsite […]

Jockey John Velazquez aboard Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit, with owner Amr Zedan (far left), trainer Bob Baffert (yellow tie) and the rest of the horse's connections. Zedan and Baffert's attorneys issueed a statement maintaining the horse's positive drug test was due to an ointment. (Image: Jamie Newell/TwinSpires)

Baffert Attorneys: Test Proves Cream Caused Medina Spirit’s Positive Test

The attorneys for Medina Spirit’s owner and trainer, Amr Zedan and Bob Baffert, issued statements late Friday claiming that tests performed by a New York laboratory confirmed their position that the Kentucky Derby winner’s positive test for the corticosteroid betamethasone came from the ointment Otomax and not an injection. Baffert’s […]

Florida Derby winner Known Agenda will begin his stud career in 2022 at Spendthrift Farm. He retired with three wins in eight career races. (Image: Autry Graham Photo/Spendthrift Farm)

Florida Derby Champ Known Agenda Retired to Stud at Spendthrift Farm

Known Agenda, the talented, but temperamental colt, was retired from racing Wednesday. He’ll begin stud duty at Spendthrift Farm in 2022. The farm announced this year’s Florida Derby winner will stand for an initial fee of $10,000. No reason was given for his sudden retirement, but Known Agenda hasn’t run […]

Rock Your World won his first three races before stumbling in two of the Triple Crown events. He's nominated for the 
 Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar. (Image: Hronis Racing)

Rock Your World Pops Up as Surprising Pacific Classic Nominee

The last two times we saw Rock Your World, he rocked no one’s world. Which is why it rocked Del Mar’s world when the Santa Anita Derby winner was one of 15 horses nominated for the Aug. 21 Grade 1 Pacific Classic. Those nominations closed for Del Mar’s flagship race […]

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit remains the focus of a legal battle over his urine sample. On Wednesday, a Kentucky judge allowed further testing on the colt. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Judge Grants Baffert’s Request for More Testing of Medina Spirit’s Urine

Kentucky Judge Thomas Wingate granted permission on Wednesday for a urine sample of Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit to undergo extra testing at a New York lab. Blood-Horse first reported that Wingate, a Circuit Court Judge from Franklin, Kentucky, specified the details for the sample’s transfer from the Kentucky Horse […]

Bob Baffert filed suit against the New York Racing Association Monday, claiming the organization had no legal jurisdiction to suspend him. (Image: Charlie Riedel/AP File Photo)

Baffert Continues Legal Offensive, Sues NYRA Over Suspension

Remaining on the legal offensive, even as he keeps a low profile, Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert filed a lawsuit against the New York Racing Association Monday. The suit claims Baffert’s right to due process was violated when the organization suspended him. The Thoroughbred Daily News first reported that […]

Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun returns from his six-week hiatus for the Listed Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. (Image: Chad B. Harmon)

Kentucky Derby Runner-Up Mandaloun Returns for Pegasus Stakes

Vacation time is over for Kentucky Derby runner-up Mandaloun, who comes back from his six-week hiatus into favored status for Sunday’s Listed Pegasus Stakes at Monmouth Park. The reason for Mandaloun’s return to action doesn’t have to do with beating his four rivals in the 1 1/16-mile jaunt around Monmouth […]

Medina Spirit trainer Bob Baffert (left) and owner Amr Zedan flank jockey John Velazquez as they hoist the Kentucky Derby trophy. Baffert and Zedan filed suit Tuesday to protect Medina Spirit's Derby victory. (Image: AP Photo)

Baffert, Zedan File Suit Seeking Extra Testing for Medina Spirit

Bob Baffert and Amr Zedan, the trainer and owner of Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit, went on the legal offensive Tuesday, filing a lawsuit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The suit, filed in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky, claims the KHRC’s ban on betamethasone applies only to injections and […]

Because he's a horseman at his core, Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale made sure to wager his entire $2.4 million on Kentucky Derby favorite Essential Quality at Churchill Downs. (Image: Kentucky HBPA/@KyHBPA)

‘Mattress Mack’ McIngvale Believes Where You Bet the Horses Matters

When Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale was looking for a site on which to drop a $2.4 million wager on Essential Quality to win the Kentucky Derby, he remembered what he was at heart. McIngvale has been called many things over the years. An entrepreneur. A furniture magnate. A media darling, […]

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert doubles as the face of his sport. His face won't be around Churchill Downs the next two years after that track suspended him for two years. (Image: AP Photo)

Churchill Downs Drops Two-Year Suspension on Bob Baffert

In the wake of Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit’s split sample testing positive for the prohibited anti-inflammatory betamethasone, Churchill Downs suspended trainer Bob Baffert for two years, effective immediately. The ruling prohibits the Hall of Fame trainer from entering horses for races or occupying stall space at Churchill Downs, and […]

Super Stock seeks a Texas Derby title to go with his Arkansas Derby victory last month. The inaugural Texas Derby is Memorial Day at Lone Star Park. (Image: Coady Photography)

Super Stock Chases Return to Form in Inaugural Texas Derby

We last saw Super Stock finishing a distant 16th in the Kentucky Derby. We’ll next see him back not in the final Triple Crown jewel – the Belmont Stakes – but in the inaugural Texas Derby. The 3-year-old Arkansas Derby winner is one of 10 expected sophomores in the $300,000 […]

Trainer Bob Baffert's travails continued Monday, when the New York Racing Association suspended him from racing at any of its Thoroughbred tracks. (Image: Luke Sharrett/Getty)

NYRA Temporarily Suspends Trainer Bob Baffert From its Tracks

Adding to the fallout from Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit’s post-Derby positive medication test, the New York Racing Association temporarily suspended Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert from entering horses for any of the association’s races. The ban extends to Baffert horses occupying stall space at Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack, […]

It's been a wild week for Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness Stakes morning-line favorite Medina Spirit. But the colt has no idea what controversy is. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

It’s Been A Spirited Week: Breaking Down the 2021 Preakness Stakes

Before we break down the field for the second jewel of the Triple Crown, we’ll dispense with the news everyone waited for concerning Saturday’s 146th Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Both Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit and Concert Tour passed their three pre-race drug tests, meaning they […]

Maryland-bred Jaxon Traveler returns to his home state as the favorite for the Grade 3 Chick Lang Stakes. The one-time 60/1 futures choice to win the Kentucky Derby found a different path to success. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Taking the Shorter Trail, Jaxon Traveler Puts the Odds in His Favor

Last November, Jaxon Traveler occupied the fast lane of Kentucky Derby prospects. At 60/1, he kept double-digit futures odds company with the likes of 45/1 Highly Motivated, 50/1 Hot Rod Charlie, 75/1 Midnight Bourbon, and 75/1 Keepmeinmind. Jaxon Traveler’s odds were lower than Hidden Stash and Super Stock (both 100/1). […]

Bettors wagering on 26/1 Mandaloun to win the Kentucky Derby won't get rewarded if winner Medina Spirit is disqualified. Pari-mutuel payouts stand once a race is ruled official. (Image: Churchill Downs/Coady Photography)

Can Mandaloun Bettors Profit From a Medina Spirit DQ?

One of the first questions many novice horseplayers asked when the news of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s positive drug test for excessive amounts of an anti-inflammatory medication was: “If he’s DQed, can I cash my Mandaloun ticket?” The answer is an emphatic “no.” Bettors holding Mandaloun tickets deserve props […]