Medina Spirit | Horse Racing Free Tips

Amr Zedan Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast

Saudi businessman Amr Zedan has been an owner only since 2017, but in that short period of time he has more than made his mark on the sport. His Medina Spirit (Protonico) crossed the wire first in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby, his Taiba (Gun Runner) won three Grade I races last year and he has what may be this year's hottest 3-year-old colt in GIII Southwest S. winner Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo). We found out more about Zedan and his racing operation on this week's Thoroughbred Daily News Writers' Room podcast presented by Keeneland. Zedan was the Green Group Guest of the Week.

Zedan doesn't buy a lot of horses at the sales, but he's not afraid to pay whatever it takes when his team targets a horse. In the case of Arabian Knight, he was purchased for $2.3 million at the OBS April sale. When he buys a horse, Zedan is thinking Derby.

“Our program is specifically tailor made for the Kentucky Derby,” Zedan said. “So every horse we target isa Kentucky Derby hopeful in our eyes. Obviously, once you're up there on the podium and carrying the Kentucky Derby trophy, I mean that feeling is difficult to describe. You just want to do it again and again and again. So that's the plan.”

That philosophy did and did not work with Medina Spirit, a bargain-basement buy at $35,000. He was first across the wire in the Derby but was later disqualified due to a positive for a therapeutic medication. Zedan and trainer Bob Baffert continue to fight the suspension in the courts.

“Look, I won the Derby, right? But I haven't lost it yet,” Zedan said. “There's a big yet there. Right now we're on to the appellate process and we are fully engaged. Let the chips fall where they may. I think we've got a great team and I honestly think we have a solid case. Once the facts are objectively reviewed, I think everything will be reinstated. That's my prerogative. So that's one. Two, I firmly believe everything happens for a reason. I just never felt any ill feelings or any animosity towards Churchill Downs or towards anyone for that matter. It's part of the sport.

Taiba was Zedan's best horse in 2022 and won the GI Santa Anita Derby, the GI Pennsylvania Derby and the GI Malibu S. But that wasn't enough to land the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male. Though he won just one Grade I race, Epicenter (Not This Time) was named champion. For Zedan, that was a major disappointment.

“I didn't expect to win the Eclipse award, but I thought we might have a lot more votes than we got,” he said. “I thought we should have had gotten more than the 66 votes we got just to make it a bit of a closer race. I don't remember a horse that had won three Grade Ones that hasn't at least gotten more votes or let alone win the Eclipse award. So there is that element of disappointment.”

Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ https://lanesend.com/ the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, XBTV https://www.kentuckybred.org/and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Randy Moss and Bill Finley took a look back at the races run over the weekends that had implications for the Kentucky Derby. Which horse was most impressive? The consensus opinion was Gulfstream allowance winner Tapit Trice (Tapit), whose name, when properly pronounced, may not be what you think. Moss explained why. And has Frankie Dettori found his mount for the Derby in GIII Robert B. Lewis S. winner Newgate (Into Mischief)? Moss and Finley differed on that subject, with Moss explaining why he thinks Dettori will choose to ride on Derby Day in the U.K. in the GI 2000 Guineas Stakes. The show wrapped up with a look at Saturday's Suncoast S. at Tampa Bay Downs, which features Eclipse Award winner Wonder Wheel (Into Mischief) and the highly regarded Julia Shining (Curlin).

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The Week in Review: Baffert Bigger, Stronger Than Ever

Bob Baffert has certainly taken his lumps ever since it was discovered that Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for a banned substance in the 2021 GI Kentucky Derby. He was hit with a 90-day suspension from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, the New York Racing Association banned him for a year and Churchill Downs banned him for two years. Though Baffert is still fighting the Churchill ban, in all likelihood, he will not be allowed to start a horse in this year's Derby, which would be the second straight year he was prevented from running a horse in the race.

Then, it was reported last week, that horses currently trained by Baffert must be sent to another trainer by Feb. 28. If not, they will not be eligible for qualifying points for the Derby. Last year, he didn't have to turn over his Derby hopefuls to another stable until just prior to the last round of Derby preps, races like the GI Santa Anita Derby and the GI Arkansas Derby.

With just about any other trainer, these penalties could have been a major setback, with owners sending their horses to new barns. But Baffert is not any other trainer. When it comes to winning Triple Crown races he is arguably the best there has ever been and owners know that teaming up with him improves their chances of winning the sport's most coveted races, even if he might not be the trainer of their horses when it comes Derby time. No one walked away.

So it's no surprise that Baffert has not suffered the “irreparable harm” that his lawyers kept arguing would be the case when contesting the suspensions. But no one could have foreseen what was to come, that Baffert would emerge from this with more firepower than he has ever had.

That was on full display last weekend. Baffert won the GIII Southwest S. at Oaklawn with Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo). The next day he captured the GII San Vicente S. with Havnameltdown (Uncaptured), a race in which he sent out three of the four starters. But nothing shined a light on Baffert's dominance quite like the list of nominees for the GIII Robert B. Lewis S., which was released Saturday. Sixteen horses were nominated and 14 are trained by Baffert. He very well could be the only trainer to have a horse in next Saturday's race.

The list of owners of the horses nominated for the Lewis is a stellar group, individuals and partnerships who have remained fiercely loyal to Baffert. You have Zedan Racing Stables, Michael Lund Petersen, the Pegram, Watson, Weitman partnership and the SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables partnership.

The list of Lewis nominees does not include Cave Rock (Arrogate). The GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile runner-up who was Baffert's best 2-year-old last year, Cave Rock, as of Sunday, had not had a published workout in 2023, not a good sign with the Derby just 95 days away.

Baffert's weekend also included a win in the GIII Las Virgenes S. for 3-year-old fillies with Faiza (Girvin) and a second-place finish with Defunded (Dialed In) in the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational.

None of which means that Baffert, or whomever is brought in prior to the Derby, has to win the race, but they will likely head to Churchill with a very strong hand, one led by Arabian Knight. After an electric win in his debut Nov. 5 at Keeneland, he had no problem with the next test, two turns and stakes competition in the Southwest. While GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Forte (Violence) has accomplished more than Arabian Knight, the Baffert runner, who cost $2.3 million at the OBS April sale, has been so impressive that he looks like the leader of the division and he tops the TDN's Derby Top 12. Look for him to take the Oaklawn route to the Derby and follow in the footsteps of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), who won the GII Rebel S. and the Arkansas Derby on his way to Louisville.

The most starters Baffert has ever had in the Derby is three, which he has done four times. Last year, Tim Yakteen, subbing for Baffert, had two. Could Baffert, or whomever is brought in to deputize, have six or seven starters in this year's race? It seems entirely possible. And after the Derby has been run, the last of the suspensions or bans that Baffert has been hit with, will be over. He can move on.

With the two-year anniversary of Medina Spirit having tested positive in the Derby coming up, the Hall of Fame trainer has proved his resiliency and his major owners have all stood by him. It's no doubt been a trying two years for Baffert, but it could have been a lot worse. He's stronger than ever.

Numbers Plummet at Sam Houston

For those of you who missed it, Pauline's Pearl (Tapit) won Saturday's GIII Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston and Scarlet Fusion (Curlin) captured the GIII John Connally Turf Cup. Not that hardly anybody was able to watch or wager on those races.

You have to feel bad for Sam Houston management, which has done a good job over the years promoting what it calls the Houston Racing Festival. The event has given the track some needed exposure over the years and brought in some good horses. Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) won the Ladies Classic in 2019 and Letruska (Super Saver) captured the race in 201.

But this year, thanks to a hissy fit from the Texas Racing Commission, the Saturday card at Sam Houston was all but invisible. The Texas racing regulators pulled the plug on the simulcasting of all races in the state after declaring that the advent of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act meant it was illegal to send the races out of state. So, unless you were present in Texas Saturday, you could neither watch nor bet on the Sam Houston races. With no betting being taken on the races, none of the major ADWs showed the Sam Houston races.

The results were predictable. The handle on the day was $488,385. Last year, when the races were run on a Sunday, the handle was $5,698,052. That's a decline of 91.4%.

The Texas tracks get some of their purse money from a fund that comes from sales taxes on horse feed, tack and other horse-related products and services. But trying to maintain purses when the handle is next to nothing is not feasible. Meanwhile, the Texas Racing Commission continues to cut off its nose to spite its face, putting the future of racing in the state in jeopardy.

At Pegasus World Cup, Business is Booming

1/ST Racing has put a lot of its resources behind turning a day at the races into an event. The best example is Pegasus World Cup Day. By combining a stellar day of racing, a $3-million race and a number of on-track entertainment options, 1/ST has turned the day into a horse racing party.

That might not appeal to everyone as there are surely a lot of curmudgeonly horseplayers who could do without having to pay a good dollar to attend and have no interest in listening to musical acts whose audience are Gen Z-ers. But it is working. They handled $43,886,543 Saturday at Gulfstream. Up until 2016, the race was not the Pegasus but the GI Donn H. and the likes of Kygo, OneRepublic and Joe Jonas were nowhere to be found. In the last year of the Donn, the handle was $19,954,971. It has more than doubled since.

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Baffert: CDI ‘Appears to Misunderstand’ Its Own Derby Qualifying Rules

Responding to a legal filing in which Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), alleged that a court-mandated lifting of Bob Baffert's ban from competing in the GI Kentucky Derby would harm the connections of other qualifying points earners who would “lose their fairly-earned berths in the Derby to make room for Baffert,” the Hall-of-Fame trainer's legal team fired back with a written response on Friday claiming that CDI “appears to misunderstand its own rules,” regarding the qualifying system.

“CDI argues that an injunction would force it to 'reallocate' points and 'deprive' owners of their existing 'berths,'” Baffert's Jan. 20 filing in United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky) stated. “CDI's rules vacate points earned by Baffert-trained horses; it does not redistribute them.”

CDI, in its Jan. 17 filing that urged a federal judge not to grant an injunction that would lift the ban in time for the May 6 Derby, had brought up the issue of Derby points as an example of purported harms to others.

The CDI filing had alleged that an injunction and possible points reallocation would “retroactively” deprive “innocent third parties, who have played by the rules.”

The Baffert filing took umbrage with that position, stating that, “an injunction here would simply require CDI to recognize existing merit and permit owners to earn qualifying points under Baffert (rather than with different trainers), it would not take away from others.”

At a later point, Baffert's filing stated, “CDI fails to address how existing rules applicable to all trainers are insufficient to protect its qualifying structure, given that a condition of receiving points is compliance with that race's medication rules.

“In addition, CDI's decision merely to vacate the points awarded to a horse who fails a drug test in a Derby-qualifying race rather than to refuse the horse's or trainer's entry belies its claim that banishment is the only means by which it can protect its business and reputation when a medication violation associated with the Kentucky Derby occurs,” Baffert's filing continued.

The disagreement over Derby qualifying points is only a small part of a wider-ranging, much more complex lawsuit.

Baffert is attempting to reverse the second year of a two-year ban CDI imposed in 2021 because of a string of drug positives in horses he trained, including two in CDI's most prominent races, the 2020 GI Kentucky Oaks and the 2021 Derby.

Baffert's trainees have crossed the finish wire first a record seven times in the Derby.

But it was that seventh Derby winner-Medina Spirit-who triggered Baffert's banishment by CDI when the colt tested positive for betamethasone, a Class C drug, in a 2021 post-Derby test.

CDI told Baffert in June 2021 that he would be ineligible to race at its six U.S. tracks until after the 2023 Derby, and that any horse that raced under his training license would not be eligible to accrue qualifying points to get into the 2022 or 2023 Derbies.

Baffert had initially sued CDI on Feb. 28, 2022, alleging civil rights violations related to what Baffert said was a deprivation of his right to due process of law guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Separately, Baffert fought unsuccessfully in the courts to try and stave off a 90-day suspension for Medina Spirit's drug overage that had been imposed upon him in February 2022 by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC). As a result, he had to transfer his stable to other trainers and did not get to saddle any horses in the 2022 Derby while serving his suspension.

And even though that KHRC suspension has already been served, Baffert is appealing that ruling in an effort to expunge the violation from his record and to reverse Medina Spirit's disqualification.

Baffert renewed his court quest to run in the 2023 Derby on Dec. 15, 2022, asking for an injunction that would “work no hardship” on CDI.

The two sides have been trading court filings over the past week in preparation for a Feb. 2 preliminary injunction hearing.

The Jan. 17 filing by CDI had stated that, “Baffert refuses to accept responsibility for his wrongful actions [and now], as the two-year anniversary of his CDI suspension approaches, Baffert has renewed his motion in a brazen attempt to litigate his way into the 2023 Kentucky Derby. This belated, tactical, and meritless motion should meet the same fate as his prior unsuccessful efforts to challenge his suspension.”

Baffert's legal filing from Jan. 20 stated that CDI's written response “addresses claims and inferences that bear little to no resemblance to Baffert's arguments. In the select instances CDI attempts to address Baffert's assertions directly, it deflects attention to inapposite cases. Baffert's arguments are meritorious on their own terms, and CDI's attempts to lead this Court astray should fail.”

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CDI Argues Court Win By Baffert Would Harm Other Derby Qualifiers

The gaming corporation that controls the GI Kentucky Derby fired the latest legal salvo in trainer Bob Baffert's ongoing attempt to reverse the second year of a two-year ban the company imposed in 2021 because of a spate of drug positives in Grade I races, urging a federal judge not to grant an injunction that would lift the ban in time for the May 6 Derby.

“Baffert refuses to accept responsibility for his wrongful actions…” Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) wrote in a brief opposing Baffert's motion for a preliminary injunction that they filed late Tuesday in United States District Court (Western District of Kentucky). “Now, as the two-year anniversary of his CDI suspension approaches, Baffert has renewed his motion in a brazen attempt to litigate his way into the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

“This belated, tactical, and meritless motion should meet the same fate as his prior unsuccessful efforts to challenge his suspension,” the CDI filing continued.

CDI also argued that an injunction would injure the connections of other Derby qualifying points earners who would “lose their fairly-earned berths in the Derby to make room for Baffert,” the filing stated.

“An injunction would force CDI to reallocate [Derby qualifying] points, retroactively depriving those owners and trainers of Derby and [GI Kentucky] Oaks berths their horses have earned under CDI's existing rules,” the filing continued. “The harm to these innocent third parties, who have played by the rules, is exacerbated by Baffert's long delay in filing his motion.”

The Hall-of-Fame conditioner's trainees have crossed the finish wire first a record seven times in the Derby.

But it was that seventh Derby winner-Medina Spirit in 2021-who triggered Baffert's banishment when the colt tested positive for betamethasone, a Class C drug, in a post-Derby test.

Citing that positive finding and other drug overages in Grade I races around the same time, CDI told Baffert in June 2021 that he would be ineligible to race at its six U.S. tracks until after the 2023 Derby, and that any horse that raced under his training license would not be eligible to accrue qualifying points to get into the 2022 or 2023 Derbies.

Baffert had initially sued CDI on Feb. 28, 2022, in an attempt to get an injunction enjoining CDI from suspending him from its tracks and races. His complaint alleged civil rights violations related to what Baffert said was a deprivation of his right to due process of law guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Those legal efforts failed, and Baffert eventually had to start serving that KHRC suspension about a month before the 2022 Derby. He transferred his entire California-based stable to the care of other trainers, and his legal team at that time withdrew the motion for an injunction. (Even though his KHRC suspension has already been served, Baffert is appealing that ruling in an effort to expunge it from his record.)

Two horses Baffert trained through March 2022-the $1.7-million FTFMAR buy Taiba (Gun Runner) and 'TDN Rising Star' Messier (Empire Maker)-ran in the 2022 Derby under trainer Tim Yakteen's license, finishing 12th and 15th, respectively.

Baffert renewed his court quest to run in the 2023 Derby on Dec. 15, 2022.

In that filing, his legal team wrote that “Granting an injunction would work no hardship on [CDI]. Numerous rules and regulations already safeguard CDI's interests in health, integrity, safety, and fairness. Baffert has already served his time for the mere allegation of a violation which has yet to be fully adjudicated, and there is no doubt among industry observers and even casual spectators that Baffert suffered consequences for the mere perception of wrongdoing.”

CDI's Jan. 17 response took umbrage with that position.

“The drugging of Medina Spirit happened just months after the Baffert-trained Gamine was disqualified for testing positive for the same drug after finishing third in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, also held at Churchill Downs Racetrack,” CDI's filing stated. “Baffert's unprecedented back-to-back drug violations cast a pall over CDI's two marquee horse racing events and triggered a national debate over the integrity of the sport.”

By banning Baffert, CDI claimed that it “acted well within its rights to protect the health and safety of its human and equine athletes and to protect its own brand and public confidence in the sport of horse racing… While Baffert has had no shortage of public relations gambits, he has failed to, and cannot, demonstrate his entitlement to a preliminary injunction.”

CDI's filing continued: “Baffert has not shown he will suffer irreparable harm absent an injunction. His 19-month delay in seeking injunctive relief negates any claim of irreparable harm. His primary alleged harm-the loss of purse money-is speculative and would be fully compensable by money damages.

“Nor will he lose his client base or suffer a loss of goodwill absent relief. Since his CDI suspension began, Baffert has run horses in hundreds of races around the world and earned millions of dollars in purse money. And none of his client-affiants say they will transfer horses from his care absent an injunction.”

CDI also alleged that Baffert's due process claim “fails as a matter of law because CDI is a private corporation, the individual defendants are not government officials, and no one violated Baffert's rights.”

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