Medina Spirit loses Preakness to outsider Rombauer days after failing drugs test - as record $112.5 million is bet on Baltimore horse race
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit lost Baltimore's Preakness race on Saturday in a shock upset that came just days after the horse failed a drugs test.
Saturday's race saw 11-1 outsider Rombauer and jockey Flavien Prat romp home to victory, bagging themselves $600,000 in prize money. Medina Spirit finished third in the 1 3/16-mile race in Baltimore, and was passed for the first time in his career after going off as the 2-1 favorite.
A record-breaking $112.5 million was bet on Saturday's race - beating the previous record of $99.8 million wagered in 2019. That came despite Preakness being ordered to operate at 10 per cent of its usual capacity because of COVID-19, with just 10,000 spectators able to watch the race in-person.
The win at the Maryland city's Pimlico Race Course denied Medina Sprint's famed trainer Bob Baffert the chance at a Triple Crown trio of victories amid an ongoing drug scandal.
All eyes were on Medina Spirit after he failed a post-Derby drug test which showed double the permitted presence of the steroid betamethasone, but the horse was denied a controversial win by Rombauer's surprise victory.
Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid in the wake of the Derby on May 1, but was allowed to compete at the Preakness after passing three drug tests beforehand. He will be stripped of his Derby win if the earlier test result is upheld.
11-1 outsider Rombauer, pictured with jockey Flavien Prat, won Saturday's Preakness race in Baltimore
Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, pictured, came third. The shock loss happened days after the horse tested positive for a banned steroid, but trainer Bob Baffert denies wrongdoing
This is the moment Rombauer raced home to victory at Saturday's Preakness, beating 2-1 Kentucky Derby winner and favorite Medina Spirit
Rombaeur and Prat are welcomed into the winner's circle following Saturday's win at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore
This is the moment Rombaeur and Prat broke away from the pack, shortly before winning the Preakness. Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is pictured behind with blue harness
Medina Spirit's trainer Bob Baffert - pictured after his Kentucky Derby win on May 1 - did not attend the Preakness, and denies claims he illegally drugged the champion horse
The Kentucky Derby champ had been tipped to bag a Triple Crown - wins at the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and the June 5 Belmont Stakes in Elmont, Upstate New York.
Baffert did not attend the Preakness, with a statement issued by his lawyer claiming the trainer feared his appearance would distract from the race.
Baffert said: 'As Medina Spirit prepares to run in the Preakness Stakes today, I want to keep the focus on this amazing equine athlete and not me, which is the primary reason I will not personally be in attendance.
'I do not want to serve as a distraction to what has always been of paramount importance — the joy of this great sport and the horses that make it possible.'
Baffert denied using banned drugs on Medina Spirit, and said the steroid found in the horse's system was also used to treat other conditions.
A masked racegoer enjoys the Preakness. Attendance was capped at 10,000 - far short of the usual 100,000 crowd, because of COVID-19-related social distancing measures
One spectator wore a racehorse themed mask for her trip to the Preakness
Preakness spectator Morga Allen donned an unusual butterfly hat for Saturday's race
Midnight Bourbon, who was 3-1, was second. Keepmeinmind was fourth and Baffert-trained Concert Tour ninth in the 10-horse field.
Saturday's race was capped to 10,000 spectators because of COVID-19 - a tenth the size of the crowd who usually attend.
Rombauer busted the bias of horses hugging the rail, going past Midnight Bourbon and Medina Spirit down the stretch and winning by 3 1/2 lengths.
Jockey Flavien Prat won the Preakness two years after being elevated to the Derby winner aboard Country House when Maximum Security was disqualified.
Trainer Michael McCarthy won his first Triple Crown race and captured the Preakness before Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, for whom he worked as an assistant before opening his own barn.
Rombauer is owned by John and Diane Fradkin, a far cry from Medina Spirit's Zedan Racing Stables and other horse racing conglomerates. He won for the third time in seven starts.
McCarthy said this week Rombauer's best weapon was between his ears and that his colt was training well. But few picked the long shot to win the Preakness, which was run in front of 10,000 fans at Pimlico Race Course.
Baffert was not in attendance, staying away because of the controversy with Medina Spirit, who still could be disqualified from the Derby.
Racing fans' anticipation for Preakness was upended last week when Medina Spirit trainer Bob Baffert announced that the Kentucky Derby winner had tested positive for anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone.
If that result is confirmed, Medina Spirit will only be the second Kentucky Derby winner in history to be stripped of the prized title for a medical violation.
The Medina Spirit scandal is the fifth to hit Baffert in the last year. He is the biggest star in American horse racing, and the most successful trainer in the history of the Triple Crown series, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Baffert has successfully appealed past penalties levied against him, but having a victory at the United States' most famous horse race overturned would badly tarnish his legacy.
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