Arcadia, CA Dec. 7 (U.S.) Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, who failed a drug test after this year’s race, died of a heart attack Monday after a workout at a California racetrack, a horse trainer’s attorney said.
Medina Spirit, who stormed home under jockey John Velasquez to finish first by half length at the Kentucky Derby in May and hand coach Bob Baffert a record seventh win in the $3 million Run for the Roses, collapsed after a workout in Santa Anita Park.
“It is with great sadness that I report the death of Medina Spirit today of a heart attack in Santa Anita following an exercise,” Baffert said in a statement sent to Reuters.
“This news destroyed my entire barn. Medina Spirit was a great hero, a member of our family was loved by everyone, and we are deeply saddened by his loss.
“I will always cherish the memories of the pride and personality of the town spirit and his formidable spirit.”
Medina Spirit’s owner from Saudi Arabia, Amr Zeidan, was not immediately reached through his lawyer.
“All I can say is that he gave us a tour of our lives and brought everyone together,” Zidane said in a report in the Thoroughbred Daily News.
“We are mourning this loss, Bob (Baffert) and me and our team and Johnny (Velazquez) too. We are all very sad.”
Baffert, one of the world’s best-known trainers, has been scrutinized by state horse racing organizers in recent years after some horses in his stables tested positive for banned substances, according to Reuters.
The Medina Spirit post-race sample after the Kentucky Derby showed 21 pg of betamethasone, above the legal limit in Kentucky, and Baffert was suspended from racing at Churchill Downs for two years.
Despite testing positive, the Medina Spirit was allowed to run at the Preakness Stakes in mid-May and finished in third place, but the Dark Bay mare was banned from Belmont Stakes, the last leg of the Triple Crown of American Thoroughbred racing.
Baffert said earlier this year that Otomax, an antifungal ointment used to treat dermatitis, could be the source of the positive test.
The horse owner’s lawyer said over the weekend that testing a fragmented sample of Medina Spirit confirmed the presence of a banned substance that was actually from a topical ointment rather than an injection.