Controversial thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert will be able to compete for this third Triple Crown following Medina Spirit passing three rounds of prerace drug testing …
Controversial thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert will be able to compete for this third Triple Crown following Medina Spirit passing three rounds of prerace drug testing and being cleared to run in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes. The three-year-old dark bay colt won the Kentucky Derby — the first jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown – but was almost immediately enmeshed in a scandal when it was revealed that Baffert’s horse tested positive for the steroid betamethasone. Maryland racing officials said Friday tests on Medina Spirit showed nothing that would cause them to scratch Baffert’s horse. from the 146th running of the Preakness at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. Not only does allowing Medina Spirt to race keep Baffert’s crown hopes alive – he guided American Pharoah to the title in 2015 and repeated the feat in 2018 with Justify – but the Preakness gives the winner a $1 million purse.
