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Medina Spirit has passed three rounds of prerace drug testing and been cleared to run in the Preakness on Saturday.
Maryland racing officials said Friday tests on the Kentucky Derby winner and fellow Bob Baffert-trained Concert Tour came back with nothing that would cause them to be scratched from the second leg of the Triple Crown. Baffert’s camp agreed to rigorous testing and monitoring of his horses as a condition of entry to the Preakness.
Medina Spirit tested positive for the steroid betamethasone in post-Derby testing. If a second round of testing there comes back positive, Medina Spirit will be disqualified and Mandaloun named winner of the Derby.
Medina Spirit was set as the 9-5 morning line favorite for the Preakness and Concert Tour the 5-2 second choice in the field of 10.
Everything else is going fine with the Derby winner. Assistant trainer Jimmy Barnes has no concerns about Medina Spirit coming back for the Preakness two weeks after his wire-to-wire win. Medina Spirit galloped a mile and a half Thursday and is training as well as could be expected.
“He had no wear and tear, came out in excellent shape and moved right ahead,” said Barnes, who is leading the training with Baffert not in Baltimore after Medina Spirit’s failed drug test. “Couldn’t be better. He came out of the Derby in fine shape. He wasn’t a tired horse, rebounded quickly.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.