LEXINGTON, Ky. - Stewards in Kentucky have suspended the trainer Bob Baffert for 90 days and disqualified Medina Spirit from the colt’s victory in last year’s Kentucky Derby, according to rulings issued on Monday. The two rulings were released one week after Baffert and Medina Spirit’s owner, Amr Zedan, appeared before the stewards for a formal hearing related to the finding of betamethasone, a regulated corticosteroid, in the post-race sample from Medina Spirit after the Derby. Baffert was also fined $7,500. Betamethasone, an anti-inflammatory, is a Class C drug and typically draws a 10-day suspension, but the ruling noted that Baffert had three previous medication violations in the year prior to the Derby, meriting the 90-day suspension. One of those violations was a betamethasone positive from the horse Gamine after she ran third in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs in 2020, when the race was held in September due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Baffert’s attorney, Craig Robertson, said on Monday that “we will be filing an immediate appeal.” In the event of an appeal, the racing commission almost always stays the penalty. If not, the suspension would start March 8 and run through June 5. An appeal would be heard by a hearing officer appointed by the KHRC. The hearing officer then issues a report to the full commission, which can accept or reject the recommendations of the report. Any rulings by the commission can be appealed in Kentucky state circuit court. :: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now! “I am very disappointed in the ruling,” Robertson said. “It runs contrary to the scientifically proven facts in the case and the rules of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.” Baffert and his attorneys have argued that the horse tested positive due to the use of an ointment containing betamethasone to treat a skin condition, and that Kentucky’s regulations of betamethasone only apply to injections of the drug in joints. Medina Spirit collapsed and died after a workout on Dec. 6 of a suspected heart attack, but a necropsy report released 10 day ago was inconclusive on the cause of the death. The report noted that no illegal drugs were found in the horse's body. In a separate statement, another of Baffert’s attorneys, Clark Brewster, called the penalties “an egregious departure from the both the facts and the law,” and he predicted that Baffert’s appeal “will prevail when the facts and rules are presented to detached, neutral decisionmakers.” “The stewards’ decision to rob Medina Spirit of a victory he earned was not in accordance with the law but instead represents biased, purposeful, and wrongful action,” Brewster said. With the disqualification, Mandaloun will, at least for the time being, be considered the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Hot Rod Charlie will be placed second and Essential Quality will be third. That result has the potential to be reversed as well on appeal. The positive by Medina Spirit led Churchill Downs to ban Baffert through the 2023 Kentucky Derby, citing his recent history of positives and the outcry surrounding statements he made following the Derby contending that the horse was never administered betamethasone. Several days after he made those statements, Baffert acknowledged that the horse had received the ointment, but he continues to maintain that the horse was never injected with the drug. Churchill has also modified its points systems for determining eligibility for the Derby so that no horse trained by Baffert can earn any points in Derby prep races. Churchill issued a statement after the ruling was issued saying that the company extended its “congratulations” to Mandaloun and his connections, trainer Brad Cox, jockey Florent Geroux, and the colt’s owner and breeder, Juddmonte Farms. “We look forward to celebrating Mandaloun on a future date in a way that is fitting of this rare distinction,” the statement said. Earlier this year, the New York Racing Association held a five-day hearing in front of a hearing officer in which its officials argued that Baffert should face an indefinite ban from the association. The hearing officer, who was appointed by NYRA, has not yet issued a report.