Trainer Bob Baffert: Kentucky Derby winner faces disqualification due to 'cancel culture' [View all]
Source: The Guardian
Trainer: Kentucky Derby winner faces disqualification due to cancel culture
Bob Baffert says urine-tainted hay may have led to positive test
Medina Spirit failed drug test after winning Kentucky Derby
Tom Lutz
@tom_lutz
Mon 10 May 2021 18.00 BST
Bob Baffert, whose horse faces disqualification from the Kentucky Derby after a failed drugs test, has blamed the situation on cancel culture.
Medina Spirit won this months Derby by half a length at Churchill Downs but on Sunday it emerged the horse had tested positive for double the legal amount of the steroid betamethasone after the race. Churchill Downs has suspended Baffert from entering horses at the track, and indicated it would invalidate Medina Spirits victory if the results of the drug test are upheld.
During an appearance on Fox News on Monday, Baffert appeared to suggest he was a victim of larger forces. Churchill Downs came out with that statement that was pretty harsh, said Baffert during an appearance on Fox News on Monday. With all the noise
We live in a different world now. This America is different. It was like a cancel culture kind of a thing so theyre reviewing it. I havent been told anything.
Baffert insists he will run Medina Spirit on Saturday in the next leg of US racings Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes. The draw for the race has been moved back to Tuesday as the controversy around Medina Spirit unfolds, although Baffert believes the investigation will take months to complete.
Baffert has had at least 30 positive doping tests for his horses, but insisted to Fox that he runs a clean operation.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/may/10/bob-baffert-medina-spirit-kentucky-derby-horse-racing-cancel-culture-disqualification