Suspended Hall of Fame horse racing trainer Bob Baffert fights to save Medina Spirit's legacy, denies cheating

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who is banned from the Kentucky Derby, is on a mission to restore two legacies — his own and that of Medina Spirit, who was stripped of the 2021 victory after testing positive for an anti-inflammatory medication following the race.

«I haven't had a chance to tell the story,» Baffert told ESPN's Marty Smith in an interview at his California home. «I've been waiting. We've been going through all the processes. I never got my due process with Churchill Downs.»

Baffert, a six-time winner of the Kentucky Derby who has saddled 34 horses in the famed race, will not be in attendance for the 148th running on Saturday. He also is banned from competing for the other two jewels of the Triple Crown — the Preakness on May 21 and the Belmont Stakes on June 11.

Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone after last year's victory and was disqualified from that victory in a ruling handed down this year. The anti-inflammatory medication is allowed in Kentucky, but it must clear a horse's system at least 14 days before a race. It's considered a Class C drug, with a lesser potential to influence performance, but any level of detection on race day is a violation.

As a result, Churchill Downs Inc. barred Baffert from entering horses at any of its tracks for this year and through mid-2023. The 38 U.S. racing states operate on a system of reciprocity, meaning if an owner, trainer or jockey is banned in one state, the others will honor that.

«Who would've thought an ointment — an ointment — took down the Kentucky Derby winner,» Baffert told ESPN. «That's just not right. And that's something that we're going to, you know, we're gonna fight vigorously to save that horse's Kentucky Derby, because he… deserved