Medina Spirit

Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit (Protonico) drilled six furlongs in 1:13 (2/7) on a foggy Friday morning at Santa Anita as he prepares for his next start in the $6-million GI Longines Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar Nov. 6. The Florida-bred was put through his paces by former jockey Juan Ochoa. "I got :59 and four," said bloodstock agent Gary Young, who recommended the purchase of Medina Spirit to owner Amr Zedan. "You can see fine now [8:15 a.m.], but you couldn't see him when he worked. It was...

by Armen Antonian Ph.D As the 2021 Breeders' Cup approaches, there is much for horse racing to celebrate. New procedures put in place at racetracks to prevent horses with pre-existing conditions from racing have reduced fatalities. And the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) will be implemented next year to standardize medication of horses. But from California to Kentucky to New York, horse racing is still under a magnifying glass. In the absence of national leadership, individual racetracks struggle to manage ongoing issues and each, on their own, is responsible...

Horses trained by Bob Baffert, whose Kentucky Derby win with Medina Spirit (Protonico) remains in doubt due to a betamethasone positive, will undergo enhanced scrutiny in order to participate in the upcoming Breeders' Cup championship races at Del Mar, the Breeders' Cup announced Sunday. The statement by the Breeders' Cup read: "The Breeders' Cup Board of Directors convened a special review under legal counsel to evaluate the recent conduct of Mr. Bob Baffert in order to determine whether he should be permitted to participate in the 2021 World Championships. In...

By virtue of his stunning upset in the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp Oct. 3, Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) now shares fourth position with Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the latest Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, which were published Oct. 14. The Marcel Weiss-trained 4-year-old was given a rating of 125 for his 71-1 upset of Tarnawa (Ire) (Shamardal) (120) in the Paris feature. Farther behind in third was Godolphin's G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G1 St Leger hero Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel...

A Jan. 24, 2022, start date for the hearing process to determine whether the New York Racing Association (NYRA) can exclude trainer Bob Baffert from racing at its three tracks was mutually agreed upon by the two parties during a Monday videoconference. A NYRA spokesperson confirmed to TDN that the schedule was established during the Oct. 11 conference by hearing officer O. Peter Sherwood. Baffert must answer to a three-count complaint filed against him by NYRA in the form of a "statement of charges." Those three counts correspond to Baffert's...

Minutes after another easy win by Letruska (Super Saver), this time in the GI Juddmonte Spinster S. Sunday at Keeneland, trainer Fausto Gutierrez told reporters that the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, and not the GI Breeders' Cup Classic, would be next for his 5-year-old mare. That was hardly a surprise. Gutierrez and German Larrea, the Mexican billionaire businessman who owns the horse, are looking to play it safe. Letruska is simply better than every other filly and mare in the sport and shouldn't have any problem winning the Distaff. The...

BROOKLYN, NY--Judge Carol Bagley Amon dismissed Bob Baffert's charge of contempt against the New York Racing Association Tuesday morning in federal court, saying that her previous injunction of NYRA's attempted suspension of Baffert in May applied only to enforcing that suspension, and not the issue at hand of NYRA scheduling a hearing and issuing official charges against Baffert in a Sept. 10 statement. The ruling clears the way for NYRA to proceed with its proposed hearing process, which is scheduled to begin Oct. 11 and may result in Baffert once...

The Week in Review We're inside the five-week mark to the Breeders' Cup, and the top five contenders for the GI Classic all won their final graded stakes prep starts over the last two weekends. This past Saturday, three of those horses wired 1 1/8-miles graded stakes and earned roughly equal Beyer Speed Figures of 107, 107 and 104. At first blush, those performances look similar on paper, and it's tempting to make the leap to say the Classic will be glutted with early gunners who could hook each other...

For 110 seconds on an unseasonably hot Saturday afternoon in Southern California, all was right in the world of Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit (Protonico). Having given last Saturday's GI Pennsylvania Derby a miss, the blue-collar colt was rerouted to Saturday's GI Awesome Again S. and a first try against some accomplished older horses. With a berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic on the line, the Florida-bred once again displayed the tenacity and raw ability that carried him past the post first in the GI Kentucky Derby, leading every...

Medina Spirit (Protonico) looks to secure his spot in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic as he faces his elders Saturday in the GI Awesome Again S. at Santa Anita. Winner of the GIII Robert B. Lewis S. here in January, the Florida-bred was second in both the Mar. 6 GII San Felipe S.--won by his former stablemate and recent GII Kelso H. victor Life is Good (Into Mischief)--and Apr. 3 GI Santa Anita Derby. The dark bay went wire to wire in the May 1 GI Kentucky Derby, a win...

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) fired back in court Monday against Bob Baffert's attempt to collect $162,086 in legal fees and expenses from NYRA that have resulted from the Hall of Fame trainer's lawsuit against NYRA. Calling his request "premature" while claiming that the $450 to $975 hourly fees charged by his lawyers are "disproportionately high," NYRA also alleged that Baffert is attempting to twist a legal provision "intended to incentivize attorneys to represent individual civil rights plaintiffs that might otherwise be unrepresented" to his own financial benefit when...

It was 35 years ago this weekend that Broad Brush bolted to the outside fence at the top of the stretch while on a clear lead in the Pennsylvania Derby, then amazingly re-rallied to claw back the lead for an improbable win. They've long since rebranded Philadelphia Park to Parx, added a racino, and been awarded an upgrade of that track's premier stakes from Grade II to Grade I. But history tends to repeat, and that same quirky spot at the quarter pole proved eerily enigmatic yet again on Saturday,...