Medina Spirit, an Embattled Kentucky Derby Winner, Dies During a Workout

Blea said the veterinarian on the scene, Dr. Laurie Bohannon, took hair, urine and blood samples from the colt for forensic and toxicology purposes.

So far this year, 13 percent of the 71 racing deaths of thoroughbreds and American quarter horses in California have been sudden deaths.

“Horses’ vascular systems are complicated,” Blea said. “Sudden death necropsies are more in depth but sometimes fail to tell you what happened conclusively.”

At 12-to-1 odds, Medina Spirit was a surprising winner of the Derby, America’s most famous race, in May. The colt was sold as a yearling for only $1,000 and was a bargain for Zedan, who paid just $35,000 for him.

A week after winning the Derby, however, Baffert announced that a post-race test found the drug betamethasone, a corticosteroid injected into joints to reduce pain and swelling, in Medina Spirit. At the time, Baffert strongly denied that he or anyone else on his team had administered the drug to the horse.

He gave a series of TV and radio interviews in the following days offering various theories about how the colt had tested positive. He criticized Churchill Downs’s suspension of him as “harsh” and cited “cancel culture” for the controversy.

Baffert, however, soon reversed himself. He said that Medina Spirit had a rash on his hind end, and that an ointment used daily to treat the dermatitis contained the substance.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/06/sports/horse-racing/medina-spirit-dies.html