Sammy Campo (Biggs)
After winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Medina Spirt, owned by Amr Zedan and trained by Hall of Famer, Bob Baffert, failed a post-race drug test, causing him to lose his triumphant victory. The results from the drug test showed the horse had traces of the steroid betamethasone, a drug sometimes used to treat pain and inflammation in horses. Although the drug is legal under Kentucky racing laws, Medina Spirit tested positive for 21 pictograms of betamethasone, which is 11 pictograms above the legal limit. The horse was on the road to winning the Triple Crown, but because of the failed drug test, Medina Spirit was disqualified. Bob Baffert denies having any knowledge of the incident, but later on confessed that the horse was treated with an ointment containing the drug for skin inflammation. [iii] Bob Baffert’s actions highlight his consideration to the damaging of the horse racing industry.
However, this is not the first time one of Bob Baffert’s horses have failed a drug test. Throughout his career, Baffert has had at least 31 horses fail drug tests, Medina Spirit being Baffert’s fifth horse known to have failed a drug test in just over a year. Even though Baffert pushed back against the results at first, Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI stated “Mr. Baffert’s record of testing failures threatens public confidence in thoroughbred racing and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby. Given these repeated failures over the last year, including the increasingly extraordinary explanations, we firmly believe that asserting our rights to impose these measures is our duty and responsibility.” [ii] With his history of many failed tests, suspicions are raised about whether or not Bob is true to his word when he says his horse’s health and safety is his number one priority. Many people have questioned Baffert’s intentions for the health of his horses, it comes off as if he only has his own interests at heart, and not the well-being of his horses. It is devastating to see results like this from a very talented horse who was on the road to winning the Triple Crown. The New York Racing Association (NYRA) suspended Baffert last month from entering horses or having stall spaces at Belmont Park, Aqueduct Racetrack and Saratoga Race Course, which means he did not have any horses running at Belmont Stakes. [i]
This whole situation is not only damaging the reputation of the trainers and owners of the industry, but it is also hurting the horse racing industry by giving it a bad name. Bob Baffert is not considering the social costs to his selfish actions. Many people have questioned why he is still allowed to train and race his horses when he has such a bad reputation for failed drug tests. It is extremely dangerous, and it is not fair for the other horses in the races because it gives them the upper hand. The racing industry has always struggled to make a good impression of itself because most people only hear about the “cruelty” that the horses are put through. Many people don’t realize that the horses who are put in races such as the Kentucky Derby, are living the absolute dream. The problem with the racing industry is not the horses, it is the people. [i] There is a lack of morality in racing because there are many people who just do it for the money, compared to the people who genuinely love the sport. Those who are just in it for the money, do not even know much about the horse itself, all they care about is the profit they will make off of it. However, a lot of the profit doesn’t come from the races themselves, it comes from stud fees. The cost for a stud fee from a successful racehorse could be up to $700,000. That is, only for horse who win races on their own without the aid of performance enhancing drugs. The lack of morality in the industry is how owners and trainers will drug their horses in their own self-interest, but doing that potentially damages the horses, which is bad in the long run.
The racing industry is hoping that these results will not come up again for Medina Spirit, because he is a very talented young horse. They also hope that these results will make a statement to the world of racing, to show how serious they are about the industry and the rules and regulations that must be followed, as well as the consequences of not following those rules. Until then, the industry will continue to take more precautions at races and prioritize the health of all horses competing.
[i] Kesslen, Ben. “Kentucky Derby Winner Medina Spirit Fails Drug Test; Trainer Suspended.” NBCNews.com.
[ii] Joyce, Greg. “Bob Baffert Gets Two-Year Churchill Downs Suspension over Kentucky Derby Scandal.” New York Post.
[iii] Joyce, Greg. 2021. “Medina Spirit Could Lose Kentucky Derby Title after Positive Drug Test Confirmed.” New York Post.
WORKS CITED
Kesslen, Ben. “Kentucky Derby Winner Medina Spirit Fails Drug Test; Trainer Suspended.” NBCNews.com. NBCUniversal News Group, May 10, 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/medina-spirit-winner-2021-kentucky-derby-fails-drug-test-n1266780.
Joyce, Greg. “Bob Baffert Gets Two-Year Churchill Downs Suspension over Kentucky Derby Scandal.” New York Post. New York Post, June 2, 2021. https://nypost.com/2021/06/02/bob-baffert-suspended-two-years-by-churchill-downs-over-scandal/.
Joyce, Greg. 2021. “Medina Spirit Could Lose Kentucky Derby Title after Positive Drug Test Confirmed.” New York Post. June 2, 2021. https://nypost.com/2021/06/02/medina-spirits-kentucky-derby-drug-test-has-been-confirmed/.
Bear Market 
Sammy: This was a fascinating review of the horse racing industry, and you use good sources and facts. Unfortunately, you did little to relate it to the economic concepts which you learned. In fact, you didn’t even use the terminology that you identified in your June 11 post (incentives / misaligned incentives; principal-agent problem).