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Baffert Attorneys Claim Test Proves Ointment Led To Medina Spirit’s Failed Drug Test

Attorneys for the owner and trainer of Medina Spirit, first-place finisher in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, claim tests conducted by a New York laboratory have “definitively confirmed” the horse tested positive for a corticosteroid not through an injection but because of an ointment used to treat a skin rash.

Craig Robertson, attorney for Bob Baffert, and Clark Brewster, representing owner Amr Zedan's Zedan Racing Stables, said tests conducted by Dr. George Maylin, who heads a drug testing laboratory at New York's Morrisville State College, showed the presence of betamethasone valerate, which they claim is found in Otomax ointment. Otomax, manufactured to treat ear infections in dogs, lists betamethasone as one of its ingredients. The test, Robertson and Brewster said, also confirmed the absence of betamethasone acetate, the injectable corticosteroid used to treat inflammation.

“In other words,” Robertson said in a statement, “it has now been scientifically proven that what Bob Baffert said from the beginning was true – Medina Spirit was never injected with betamethasone and the findings following the Kentucky Derby were solely the result of the horse being treated for a skin condition by way of a topical ointment – all at the direction of Medina Spirit's veterinarian.”

The Paulick Report has asked Robertson and Brewster for a full copy of Maylin's report.

Robertson said the test result “should definitively resolve the matter in Kentucky and Medina Spirit should remain the official winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby.” Brewster had similar sentiments, stating that “Zedan is proud to have stood by Bob and is ecstatic that Medina Spirit will receive the honor of his great victory.”

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and board of stewards have yet to conduct a hearing on Medina Spirit's failed drug test, and until a hearing is conducted Medina Spirit will remain the Kentucky Derby winner. In the ewake of the failed drug test, Baffert was ruled off all tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. through the conclusion of the 2023 spring-summer meet at the company's flagship track in Louisville, Ky. Churchill Downs also said horses trained by Baffert are not eligible for qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

A spokesperson for the commission could not be reached for comment on Maylin's testing, which attorneys for Baffert and Zedan sought through a court order.

The rules of Kentucky racing do not appear to differentiate between administration of betamethasone or other drugs through injection or other means. In section 1 in the regulations relating to medication, testing procedures and prohibited practices, the definition for “administer” states: “to apply to or cause the introduction of a substance into the body of a horse.”

The full statements from Robertson and Brewster follow:

Craig Robertson: The testing of the split urine sample of MEDINA SPIRIT has now been completed by Dr. George Maylin, Director of the New York Drug Testing & Research Program. By Order of the Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky, this urine was tested “to determine if the alleged topical administration of OTOMAX could have resulted in the finding of betamethasone” in MEDINA SPIRIT following the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Those results have now definitively confirmed that the betamethasone present in MEDINA SPIRIT's system did indeed come from the topical ointment OTOMAX and not an injection. In other words, it has now been scientifically proven that what Bob Baffert said from the beginning was true – MEDINA SPIRIT was never injected with betamethasone and the findings following the Kentucky Derby were solely the result of the horse being treated for a skin condition by way of a topical ointment – all at the direction of MEDINA SPIRIT's veterinarian.

The betamethasone in an injection is betamethasone acetate. The betamethasone in the topical ointment is betamethasone valerate. Only betamethasone acetate is addressed and regulated in the rules of racing in Kentucky. Thus, the presence of betamethasone valerate in MEDINA SPIRIT, which resulted from a topical ointment, is not a rules violation. Dr. Maylin's testing not only confirmed the presence of betamethasone valerate, but also the absence of betamethasone acetate. This should definitively resolve the matter in Kentucky and MEDINA SPIRIT should remain the official winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Since May, Mr. Baffert has been the subject of an unfair rush to judgment. We asked all along that everyone wait until the facts and science came to light. Now that it has been scientifically proven that Mr. Baffert was truthful, did not break any rules of racing, and MEDINA SPIRIT's victory was due solely to the heart and ability of the horse and nothing else, it is time for all members of racing to come together for the good of the sport. Mr. Baffert has been a tremendous ambassador for the sport throughout his 46 year Hall of Fame career and he has every intention of continuing to do so.

Clark Brewster: As Legal counsel for, and on behalf of, Abr Zedan and Zedan Racing Stable, owner of Medina Spirit, winner of the 147th Kentucky Derby, it is extremely gratifying to learn that the New York Racing Laboratory through its Director Dr George Marlin has scientifically confirmed that no Betamethazone Acetate was found in the post race urine specimen of Medina Spirit. Dr Maylin reported that components of an ointment used to treat a skin lesion was confirmed through metabolite confirmation and that no Acetate that is part of the injectable Betamethazone was present. The Kentucky Racing Commission has steadfastly enacted rules relating to corticosteroid joint injection and have drawn a bright line rule that no injections are permitted within 14 days of a race. Now there is zero doubt that the 14 day rule some thought might have been violated by the earlier less specific testing is revealed as premature judgment. That groundless accusation is without scientific merit.
Zedan is proud to have stood by Bob and is ecstatic that Medina Spirit will receive the honor of his great victory.

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Testing On Medina Spirit’s Urine Sample Ready To Proceed In New York

Extra testing on Medina Spirit's post-Kentucky Derby urine sample will begin next week, according to bloodhorse.com. Dr. George Maylin, director of the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory, has now received the relevant drug metabolite reference standards from Frontier BioPharm. Testing of the sample is expected to take approximately two weeks.

The Protonico colt's Derby win is in jeopardy due to a positive post-race test result for betamethasone, a therapeutic medication that is not allowed on race day. Trainer Bob Baffert and his attorney have claimed the positive is a result of a topical cream (Otomax) used to treat a case of dermatitis on the colt's hindquarters. Though the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has not yet held a hearing, required to disqualify Medina Spirit.

Counsel for Medina Spirit's trainer Bob Baffert and owner Zedan Stables, Craig Robertson, filed a civil suit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on June 7 demanding their right to test the split urine sample, which sat undisturbed in the commission's freezer. Remnants of the original biologic samples were initially sent to be tested for those ingredients, but they were reportedly damaged before arrival at the plaintiffs' choice of labs, the New York Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory.

Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate ordered June 16 that the remaining urine sample be flown to the New York lab, that two KHRC representatives travel with the sample, and that plaintiffs fund the flight. Upon arrival, the KHRC was to retain 5 milliliters of the sample, while the remainder was to be tested for clotrimazole, gentamicin, and betamethasone valerate, active ingredients in the topical cream Otomax.

On July 14, the sample was flown to New York accompanied by Dr. Clara Fenger and Tom Huckeby, representing Baffert and Medina Spirit's owner, Amr Zedan, as well as by KHRC executive director Marc Guilfoil and equine medical director Dr. Bruce Howard.

On Aug. 9 in Judge Wingate's courtroom, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's general counsel Jennifer Wolsing explained: “My understanding is that an affirmative defense is being mounted by the plaintiffs, to the extent that there may be some evidence as to how this substance (betamethasone) was introduced to the horse.

“We can't have a stewards hearing until those testing results have come back, because that appears to form the basis of the defense the plaintiffs want to mount. We would really like those results so that we can press forward with a stewards hearing and find out more about this case.”

When that hearing occurs, Medina Spirit could be disqualified and Baffert could be fined and/or suspended by the KHRC. A suspension would be reciprocated across other racing jurisdictions.

Since his run in the Kentucky Derby, Medina Spirit has run four times. He finished third in the Preakness, then won the Shared Belief Stakes and G1 Awesome Again, and finished second in the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic.

In Baffert Case, Sides Haggle Over Urine Sample

Lawyers representing the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and Bob Baffert squared off before Franklin Circuit County Judge Thomas Wingate Friday morning in a dispute over whether or not additional urine samples from Medina Spirit (Protonico) from the GI Kentucky Derby should be made available to the defendants' lawyers and, if so, in what quantity?

The Baffert team has asked for an additional urine sample because it believes further testing can prove that the drug in question, Betamethasone, found its way into Medina Spirit through an ointment used to clear up a skin condition and not through an injection. The KHRC argued that it needs to retain what's left of Medina Spirit's urine sample in case there is a need for further testing on its part or some sort of unforeseen problem related to testing.

Wingate asked the two sides to negotiate and come to a compromise. He said that if the sides could not agree, he would issue a ruling Wednesday. Wingate made it clear that he wants at least some of the urine to be handed over to the Baffert team.

“You sort of see where I am going and I think that if you come up with something more palatable and are afraid of how I am going to rule then do it. Fair enough?” Wingate said.

The hearing was held over Zoom and, at times, only Wingate could be heard clearly. For the most part, the statements made by KHRC attorney Jennifer Wolsing were inaudible.

The lawyers representing Baffert and Medina Spirit's owner, Amr Zedan, are building a case that the drug got into the colt's system through the ointment. They have said that would be the sort of mitigating circumstances needed to conclude that there was no attempt to improve the horse's performance, reason enough for Baffert to be exonerated and the original order of the Kentucky Derby to be upheld.

Also at issue is whether or not it matters where the Betamethasone came from. The courts and the KHRC might ultimately decide that is irrelevant, that the very presence of the drug is enough to warrant a disqualification, no matter the source of the drug.

“The rules of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission are clear,” said Baffert's lawyer Craig Robertson. “Some 63 times in their rules it states that a trainer is allowed to present mitigating circumstances in consideration of a penalty. Proving that this was an ointment and it did not come from an injection is, at the bare minimum, a mitigating circumstance. We should be allowed and should be entitled to present that evidence and obtain that evidence to scientifically prove these facts.”

Robertson also touched upon public perceptions involving this case and the potential damage that could be done to Baffert's reputation.

“From a public perception perspective, my client has been excoriated unfairly and publicly about this and he's been accused of injecting this horse to cheat to win the Kentucky Derby,” Robertson said. “That this is a banned substance. That this is doping. None of which is true. We have an opportunity to get scientific evidence to prove that it's not true and they're trying to keep us from doing that. That's not fair.”

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Baffert, Zedan File Suit Against Kentucky Commission Over Extra Testing In Medina Spirit Saga

Medina Spirit trainer Bob Baffert and owner Amr Zedan have filed a civil suit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) in Franklin Circuit Court demanding more testing of the post-race samples taken from the colt after the Kentucky Derby. The suit, filed June 7, seeks temporary and permanent injunctions against the KHRC from “violating the plaintiffs' substantive and procedural due process rights with regard to the analysis of the split biological urine sample” in the case.

Eight days after the Kentucky Derby, Baffert publicly announced he had been informed an initial post-race test on Medina Spirit had revealed the presence of the corticosteroid betamethasone. At the time, Baffert said the horse had never been treated with betamethasone, which comes in multiple forms. Two days later after the ensuing media storm, Baffert announced Medina Spirit had been treated with Otomax, a topical cream approved for use in dogs in the process of trying to clear up a sizable patch of skin irritation.

A split sample test has confirmed the presence of betamethasone, but the KHRC has yet to issue a stewards' ruling regarding the potential disqualification of the horse and/or fines and suspensions for Baffert. In acknowledging the positive split sample, attorneys for Zedan and Baffert last week acknowledged they were going to conduct further testing on samples from Medina Spirit.

The lawsuit reveals that the attorneys had made a number of demands regarding the testing of that split sample. The purpose of split sample testing is to confirm or refute the original finding from the initial post-race test in the same medium (blood or urine), but attorneys for Baffert and Zedan demanded that both mediums be tested. They also demanded that both mediums be tested for other compounds present in Otomax, including the anti-fungal clotrimazole and the anti-bacterial gentamicin, as well as the specific chemical form of betamethasone used in the topical application – betamethasone valerate.

Learn more about split sample testing here.

The KHRC declined those requests, which exceed the typical battery of tests for split sample testing. It did agree to send the remnants of the original samples to a laboratory chosen by Zedan and Baffert so that additional testing could be performed at the owner and trainer's expense. The lawsuit claims the testing samples arrived damaged, and that the KHRC is now reluctant to send the horse's split urine sample, which has not been tested, to another laboratory.

“There currently sits in the KHRC freezer an unopened, untested and hopefully pristine split sample of Medina Spirit's urine,” reads the suit. “Given the foregoing, the plantiffs requested that the urine be immediately shipped to the agreed upon lab for testing for all the compounds in Otomax. The KHRC has refused this reasonable request and indicated it has no intention of allowing that urine split sample to be tested in any way.”

The complaint also puts forth the theory by attorneys for Baffert and Zedan that the classification of betamethasone in KHRC regulations is intended to refer only to the FDA-approved injectable form of betamethasone, known by the trade name BetaVet. The commission's current classification guidelines refer to the drug betamethasone, not to BetaVet. The plaintiffs claim the existing regulations do not “discuss or include any reference to the use of betamethasone as a component of a topical ointment or cream.”

KHRC regulations do not appear to discriminate between topical versus injected products or between brand name products in its current drug classification guidelines. Its withdrawal guidelines, which “shall provide certain mandatory treatment requirements, guidance, and advice” do make specific reference to injected forms of betamethasone.

The KHRC has not yet filed a response in the case. A hearing for the temporary injunction will take place before Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate on Friday morning.

Read a copy of the civil complaint here.

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