Report: Why Regulators Test For Picograms Of Betamethasone
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Medina Spirit (Protonico) wins the Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs. John Velazquez up, Bob Baffert trainer, Zedan Racing owner.
On Sunday morning, trainer Bob Baffert shocked the racing world with his announcement that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit's post-race test had returned a positive result for 21 picograms of betamethasone. During his press conference, Baffert went on to say that Medina Spirit has never been administered betamethasone.
During the ensuing social media storm, questions have arisen about what exactly betamethasone is, the legitimacy of testing for substances in concentrations as low as a picogram (one trillionth of a gram), and how it got into the horse's system in the first place.