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Medina Spirit Stripped of Kentucky Derby Victory

Jockey John Velazquez atop Medina Spirit at the 147th Running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, on May 1.

Jockey John Velazquez atop Medina Spirit at the 147th Running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, on May 1.

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (GARY B. GRAVES)
Updated on

(AP) -- Medina Spirit was stripped of the victory in last year’s Kentucky Derby and Mandaloun was declared the winner after a ruling by state racing stewards on Monday.

The since-deceased Medina Spirit tested positive after the race last May for a steroid, betamethasone, that is legal in Kentucky but banned on race day. The positive test threw the world's best-known horse race into turmoil and cast an unflattering spotlight on trainer Bob Baffert, considered the face of horse racing after he guided horses to the Triple Crown in 2015 and 2018.