Preview
If Medina Spirit is allowed to enter the Preakness, the colt will surely be among the favorites. He has never finished worse than second in six career races, and his strong start to the Kentucky Derby allowed him to lead the field for the entirety of the event.
Although Baffert won t be at Pimlico, he ll be hoping for a strong showing from Medina Spirit, especially with the skepticism and scrutiny that has come over the past few days. I want him to run a good race because now everybody s piling on him, he said, per ESPN.com. It s probably more pressure now that he s got to run well.
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Predictions
Whether or not Medina Spirit races in the Preakness, he may not be the Baffert-trained horse that has the best showing at Pimlico. Concert Tour didn t run in the Kentucky Derby and has been preparing for this race instead, which could lead to a strong performance on Saturday.
After winning his first three career races, Concert Tour finished third in the Arkansas Derby last month. However, neither of the horses that placed ahead of him (Super Stock and Caddo River) will be competing in the Preakness.
Concert Tour s jockey will be Mike Smith, who is a two-time Preakness winner and has seven career victories at Triple Crown events. So the colt appears to be set up to fare well at Pimlico, especially if he gets a good starting spot and breaks strong from the gate.
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Of course, all eyes are on Medina Spirit after he was flagged for a positive drug test following the Kentucky Derby. The 21 picograms of betamethasone were well above the level allowed by Kentucky racing officials.
Trainer Bob Baffert said Monday on Fox News the situation is like a cancel culture kind of a thing. He also claimed Medina Spirit s test may have resulted from a groom urinating on some hay in the stall. The hay was then contaminated with betamethasone from a cold medicine the groom had taken.
Baffert then released a statement Tuesday to say he thinks the positive test was due to ointment the three-year-old received for dermatitis: