LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky racing officers have denied coach Bob Baffert’s request to remain his suspension for a failed postrace drug check by Medina Spirit that led to his disqualification as Kentucky Derby winner.
Kentucky Horse Racing Fee board members on Friday voted 10-0 with three abstentions in opposition to the keep in a specifically referred to as assembly. KHRC stewards final week suspended the Corridor of Fame coach for 90 days with a $7,500 advantageous and disqualified the now-deceased colt for having the corticosteroid betamethasone in his system final Might. Betamethasone is allowed in Kentucky however prohibited on race day.
Director Marc A. Guilfoil denied an preliminary request to remain the suspension, which was scheduled to start out on March 8 however is delayed pending a March 17 listening to earlier than Franklin County Circuit Decide Thomas Wingate.
Clark Brewster, an lawyer for Baffert, argued that the steroid got here from a topical ointment fairly than an injection. KHRC normal counsel Jennifer Wolsing countered that the supply of the betamethasone was irrelevant and cited Baffert’s failure to maintain guarantees to enhance his operation after a sequence of positives by his horses.
Brewster in an announcement afterward referred to as the KHRC’s resolution “a sudden, arbitrary departure from its own 100-year precedent” and added that he regarded ahead to acquiring a keep in courtroom.
Baffert on Tuesday sued Churchill Downs in federal courtroom, looking for to overturn his two-year suspension as a result of he stated he didn’t obtain due course of. The observe has acknowledged Derby runner-up Mandaloun as race winner. Medina Spirit died on Dec. 6 of a coronary heart assault following a exercise at Santa Anita Park in California.
