Medina Spirit has been officially disqualified as the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby, and runner-up Mandaloun has been declared the rightful victor. Now bettors who unfairly lost that day want to claim their winnings.
Medina Spirit collapsed and died December 6 of a heart attack following a training run at Santa Anita, less than a month after finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.
Medina Spirit was deemed ineligible when officials determined he was positive for betamethasone, a steroid that is legal in the Kentucky but prohibited on race day. The Kentucky Race Horsing Commission (KHRC) suspended trainer Bob Baffert for 90 days and fined him $7,500. Churchill Downs previously suspended Baffert for two years, citing a series of positive tests by his horses.
According to Yahoo News, attorney Will Nefzger filed a class action lawsuit with 19 plaintiffs. “My clients all hold parimutuel wagers that have not been paid, and they are now winning wagers with the new order of finish,” he said.
Nefzger cited six causes in the lawsuit, including negligence, breach of contract, violation of the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act, unjust enrichment permanent injunctive relief. He added that those who won on Derby should not lose their money.
“We don’t want a clawback, we are asking for these actual winning tickets to be paid,” he said.
Clark Brewster, an attorney for Baffert, said Medina Spirit absorbed the illegal steroid through the veterinary ointment Otomax, a corticosteroid that treats inflammation, but that argument didn’t fly. Brewster promised he would appeal the ruling.
“This ruling represents an egregious departure from both the facts and the law,” he said, “but the numerous public statements by KHRC officials over the last several months have made perfectly clear that Bob Baffert’s fate was decided before we ever sat down for a hearing before the three stewards, one of whom is directly employed by Churchill Downs as the racing director at Turfway Park.”
Animal Wellness Action Executive Director Marty Irby thanked officials for taking action against Baffert, whom he called “American horse racing’s most infamous violator.”
“Baffert continues to drag horse racing through the mud in scandal after scandal,” Irby said, “and we call on every racing jurisdiction in the nation to hold him accountable by reciprocating the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s suspension in their own state. We’re elated that Baffert won’t be participating in the upcoming 2022 Kentucky Derby and believe the horses will be better off, and the event will have more credibility, without him.”
