But the report was inconclusive. The colt, who tested positive for a banned substance last May after winning the Kentucky Derby, collapsed after a workout in December.
Medina Spirit, the race horse whose victory in the 2021 Kentucky Derby had been called into question by a failed post-race drug test, may have died of a heart attack but a necropsy report was inconclusive, according to California regulators on Friday. Hair, blood and urine samples showed no evidence of doping. The colt died on Dec.6 after working five furlongs at the Santa Anita Park racetrack in Southern California. The necropsy was conducted by veterinarians and forensic experts at the University of California, Davis. “A definitive cause of death was not established despite extensive testing,” the California Horse Racing Board said in a statement. Medina Spirit had swollen lungs, foam in his windpipe and an enlarged spleen, all common when horses die suddenly, the board said. Those conditions are “compatible with, but not specific for a cardiac cause of death,” it said. Last year,13 percent of the 71 racing deaths of thoroughbreds and American quarter horses in California were classified as sudden deaths. California officials said it is not unusual to reach an inconclusive necropsy result. They cited an international study of exercise-related sudden death in racehorses that found a cause of death was determined with certainty in about 53 percent of cases, a presumptive cause was established in 25 percent, and in about 22 percent the specific cause of death could not be determined. Neither Bob Baffert, Medina Spirit’s trainer, nor his lawyers, were available for immediate comment.
