Medina Spirit’s Kentucky Derby Drama, Explained

ESPN Daily

ESPN

Sports

4.6 • 3.9K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Medina Spirit will race in this weekend’s Preakness, fresh off a win at the Kentucky Derby. The victory is clouded in controversy, because a drug test right after came up positive for a substance banned on race day. Longtime trainer and racing honcho Bob Baffert has denied wrongdoing, but this is just the latest in a string of concerning incidents around his massive horse training operation. Matt Hegarty of Daily Racing Form walks us through the timeline of events, leading up to this weekend’s Preakness, and the implications for superstar Baffert. Then Wright Thompson, reporter for ESPN’s “Bloodlines” podcast, shares more on his time with Baffert, and the state of racing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Coming to the finish in the Kentucky Derby, here's the wire.
0:05.0	Bob Baffert does it again.
0:07.0	Medina Spirit has won the Kentucky Derby.
0:11.0	Mandolin was second, Hot Rod, Charlie was third.
0:14.0	Essential Pauley was fourth.
0:16.0	Two-O-101, the final time.
0:18.0	Bob Baffert stands alone with seven Derby wins.
0:29.5	That win by Medina Spirit made his iconic trainer, Bob Baffert, the all-time leader in Kentucky Derby Wims, until all of it came crashing
0:41.0	down after a drug test for the horse came up positive. And now everything is in question.
0:49.8	So as the second race in the Triple Crown, the Preakness, runs tomorrow, we discover the drama in the sport of kings.
0:59.8	I'm Pablo Torre. It's Friday, May 14th. This is ESPN Big.
1:06.5	Presented by UKG. Our purpose is people.
1:13.8	Matt, I know very little about horse racing,
1:16.9	so I'm so glad you're joining me today. Thank you.
1:19.3	I appreciate you having me on.
1:21.0	Matt Haggerty has covered horse racing for more than 20 years,
1:24.4	and he reports on the machinations of the industry for the daily racing form.
1:29.6	So I know that the pregnus is tomorrow, Matt. I know that it's the second race in the
1:33.5	Triple Crown, and I know that Medina Spirit, the horse that won the Kentucky Derby, tested positive
1:39.6	in a drug test after that win. But before you walk us through exactly what happened there, how would
1:45.6	you just describe the drama in the sport that you cover right now? This is pretty unprecedented.
1:51.3	We haven't had a derby positive in horse racing since 1968. When you start talking about drugs
	...

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