The highlight of Bob Baffert’s weekend was an absence of positive drug tests for his horses. Whether it’s coincidence or not, all four of the star trainer’s runners at Pimlico Race Course who passed those tests also lost.
That most notably included Medina Spirit, 2021 Kentucky Derby winner (for now). Sent off with a clean testing slate and 5-2 odds in the Preakness, Medina Spirit faded in the stretch for the first time in his career and finished third behind long shot Rombauer and Midnight Bourbon. The horse’s fighting spirit was attributed many times after the Derby as the reason why he’d never been passed late in a race; Saturday in Baltimore, Medina Spirit was passed like he was running in quicksand.