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

Bob Baffert.
(Image credit: Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

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.

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Tim O'Donnell

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.