Connect with us

Published

on

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Trainer Bob Baffert and the owners of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit have filed a lawsuit against Kentucky racing officials.

They are seeking a temporary injunction they say is to prevent violation of due process rights and for custody of “remnant” samples of the colt’s urine to prove that traces of the steroid betamethasone found in his system during a positive drug test did not come from an injection.

Medina Spirit’s Derby victory on May 1 is in jeopardy after a failed postrace drug test revealed 21 picograms of betamethasone in the horse. The Hall of Fame trainer and Medina Spirit owner Amr Zedan confirmed last week that a second test — or split-sample — was also positive for betamethasone.

Baffert and Zedan Racing Stables filed the lawsuit against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Monday in Franklin County Circuit Court. The suit states that the KHRC told the trainer and owners on June 1 that remnant samples of the samples had been “damaged/contaminated” during transport to the testing lab. The lawsuit also seeks an injunction to prevent the KHRC from violating “substantive and procedural due process rights” regarding analysis of the split sample.

“The testing the plaintiff seek would provide empirical and scientific reasonable certainty that the miniscule (sic) and materially irrelevant reported positive in Medina Spirit’s post-race sample was innocuously sourced from the topical Otomax,” the suit said.

A message left with a KHRC spokesperson was not immediately answered.

Baffert, suspended by Churchill Downs last week for two years from the track for his recent record of failed tests, initially denied wrongdoing before later acknowledging that the horse had been treated with an ointment containing the corticosteroid for a skin inflammation. Kentucky prohibits even trace amounts of betamethasone in horses on race day.

Continue Reading

Sports

Bellinger has rib fracture; Cubs add top prospect

Published

on

By

Bellinger has rib fracture; Cubs add top prospect

Chicago Cubs outfielder Cody Bellinger has a fractured right rib and has been placed on the 10-day injured list, manager Craig Counsell told 670 The Score on Wednesday.

Bellinger, a two-time All-Star selection, collided with the center-field wall during Tuesday’s game while tracking a fly ball hit by Houston‘s Yainer Diaz that went for a double and scored Kyle Tucker. He left the game an inning later.

In a corresponding move, the Cubs called up Pete Crow-Armstrong, their top prospect.

Bellinger, in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak, is batting .226 with five home runs and 17 RBIs this season.

Crow-Armstrong, 22, made his MLB debut last September and went 0-for-14 with three walks. He’s batting .203 with two home runs, five doubles and seven RBIs at Triple-A Iowa this season.

Field Level Media contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Struggling Cards OF Walker demoted to minors

Published

on

By

Struggling Cards OF Walker demoted to minors

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker has been demoted to the minor leagues after a slow start to the season.

The Cardinals announced before Wednesday afternoon’s game against the Arizona Diamondbacks that Walker and left-handed pitcher Zack Thompson were optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Infielder Jose Fermin and left-hander John King were recalled from Memphis in corresponding moves.

Walker, 21, is batting .155 with no home runs, 4 RBIs and a .497 OPS in 20 games this season, his second with the Cardinals. The former top prospect had been mired in a 3-for-27 slump over his past 11 games.

The 6-foot-6 Walker is one of several players struggling offensively for the Cardinals (10-14), who entered Wednesday with just 16 homers as a team — second worst in the majors behind only the Chicago White Sox — and rank in the bottom five in MLB in most major categories, including batting average (.218), runs (82), slugging percentage (.336) and OPS (.637).

Walker entered 2023 as a consensus top-five overall prospect and delivered a solid rookie season, batting .276 with 16 homers, 51 RBIs and a .787 OPS.

Continue Reading

Sports

Giants’ Snell scratched from start, placed on IL

Published

on

By

Giants' Snell scratched from start, placed on IL

The San Francisco Giants scratched left-hander Blake Snell from his scheduled start Wednesday and placed the two-time Cy Young Award winner on the 15-day injured list with a left adductor strain.

Right-hander Landen Roupp was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento by the Giants, who tabbed right-hander Ryan Walker (2-2, 3.46 ERA) to make his first start of the season Wednesday against the visiting New York Mets.

Walker, 28, worked a scoreless inning of relief in San Francisco’s 5-2 win over New York on Monday.

Snell, 31, is 0-3 with an 11.57 ERA in three starts. He has yet to recapture the form that allowed him to secure his second Cy Young Award while pitching for the San Diego Padres in 2023.

Snell owns a 71-58 record with a 3.30 ERA in 194 career games (all starts) with the Tampa Bay Rays, Padres and Giants.

Roupp, 25, has registered a 4.35 ERA without recording a decision in eight relief appearances this season with San Francisco.

Continue Reading

Trending