Trainer says Kentucky Derby-winner Medina Spirit is victim of 'cancel culture' after failed drug test

(Image credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

published 10 May 2021

Medina Spirit is the latest victim of "cancel culture," the Kentucky Derby-winning horse's trainer argued Monday.

Churchill Downs, the site of the Derby, revealed Sunday that Medina Spirit had registered levels of an anti-inflammatory drug beyond Kentucky horse racing's legal limit in a post-race blood test. For now, Baffert, who holds the record for the most Derby wins in the sport's history, is suspended from entering horses at the track, and if the results are confirmed, he and Medina Spirit will be stripped of their victory.

Baffert thinks that would be unfair. During an interview on Fox News on Monday, he called Churchill Downs' statement "harsh," suggesting that they faced societal pressure to reach their decision. "We live in a different world now. This America is different ... it was like a cancel culture kind of a thing," Baffert said, without acknowledging that his horses have reportedly failed drug tests 29 other times over his four-decade career. Tim O'Donnell

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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