Medina Spirit
It's a hell of a time in racing to become the new head of one of the sport's foremost national organizations, but new National Thoroughbred Racing Association president and CEO Tom Rooney says he's ready for the challenge. Wednesday morning, the former U.S. congressman joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland's final show of 2021 as the Green Group Guest of the Week to discuss what the NTRA's top priorities will be under his stewardship, how his previous experience on the Hill can benefit the industry, what he thinks...
Medina Spirit's necropsy is "currently underway" and a report on last week's sudden death of the GI Kentucky Derby winner is expected to be publicly released by mid-February, California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) equine medical director Dr. Jeff Blea said Wednesday. "Completion of sudden death case file reports takes weeks and months to complete due to the in-depth level of analysis involved, and we fully expect a final report in this case in approximately two months," Blea told commissioners at the Dec. 15 CHRB meeting. "Tissue samples and specimens will...
A federal judge has ordered that the New York Racing Association (NYRA) must pay trainer Bob Baffert $109,124 in legal expenses. Those fees and costs were incurred in the early stages of the trainer's civil rights lawsuit against NYRA, and the court has determined that legal precedents qualified him as the "prevailing party" five months ago when he obtained a preliminary injunction to overcome NYRA's banishment of him from Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct. That figure represents only a partial award. The Hall-of-Fame trainer had been seeking $162,086. NYRA had argued...
California Senator Dianne Feinstein called on the California Horse Racing Board to conduct a "thorough, transparent and independent investigation" into the death of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) in a letter to CHRB Executive Director Scott Chaney sent from her office Monday. The letter reads: "As the California Horse Racing Board proceeds with the investigation into the jarring death of Medina Spirit, I urge you to ensure such efforts are thorough, transparent, and independent of any outside influence. Further, I ask that you provide my staff with regular...
Ever get the feeling that somebody up there doesn't like us very much? Of all of the horses, in all of the world... But really it doesn't make any difference, however you interpret the tragedy of Medina Spirit (Protonico). The net result, for our community, is the same--whether you think the whole melodrama unfolded, entirely and lucklessly, at random; or was somehow determined by our own culpable behaviors. Whoever is writing these scripts, we have been cast in the same role. We are being tested. And if we don't get...
Researchers at the University of Minnesota will assist in investigating the high-profile death of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico), who collapsed on Monday due to a suspected cardiac event. While an official necropsy will be conducted at the University of California, Davis, samples of hair, blood, and heart tissue are en route to the university's College of Veterinary Medicine's (CVM) Equine Genetics and Genomics Laboratory, where scientists are already studying cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death in racehorses. Researchers are expected to release their findings to the California...
It was a busy news week, headlined by the unfortunate sudden death of GI Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico) and the 30-day suspension handed down to leading rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. Wednesday morning, Joe Bianca, Bill Finley and Jon Green of the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland discussed and reacted to all of it, rekindled the debate over whether trainer Bob Baffert is good for the sport, and welcomed the director of the upcoming film "Jockey" as the Green Group Guest of the Week. "A couple of weeks...
On this week's episode of the TDN Writers' Room, the writers remember Medina Spirit and discuss racing's ongoing crisis point. They're also joined by guest Clint Bentley, director of the upcoming drama film 'Jockey.'
The death of Medina Spirit (Protonico) following a workout Monday at Santa Anita has resulted in a predictable backlash, with at least two media outlets calling for the sport to be banned and readers of some of the nation's most prominent newspapers posting numerous vitriolic comments online. Here is a sampling of what has been written and said about horse racing following Monday's shocking news: The New York Post led the charge with Maureen Callahan writing a column with the headline "Medina Spirit's shocking death is yet another reason we...
As I sat down to write this column Monday, I got a text from a bloodstock agent that said, "Heard Medina Spirit broke down at Santa Anita a little while ago. Gonna be a shit storm." I checked Twitter right away, but there was nothing yet about Medina Spirit (Protonico). I didn't have to wait long. Some minutes later, the "I heard Medina Spirit..." tweets started trickling out, and then the dam burst. Everyone had something to say, and most of it was derogatory or innuendo about his trainer, Bob...
by Bill Finley & Dan Ross Medina Spirit (Protonico), the winner of this year's GI Kentucky Derby, died of an apparent heart attack following a five-furlong workout Monday morning at Santa Anita. The incident happened after Medina Spirit completed a five-furlong workout in 1:01.40. The breeze took place at about 7:45 Pacific Time. "I just heard. He had a heart attack," owner Amr Zedan said. "It was quick and he didn't suffer. It's unfortunate. In a moment like this there is not much that we can do. All I can...