Zedan: Backs Baffert 'if it takes going to the Supreme Court'

Amr Zedan passionately defended trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday, one day after the trainer was denied a stay of his 90-day suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The owner of the late Medina Spirit appeared on the Saudi Cup international broadcast to discuss the trainer and his fight against the colt’s disqualification from the 2021 Kentucky Derby.

Zedan said he will provide the resources to continue the court battle as long as needed.

“If it takes going to the Supreme Court I will throw every single bit into this,” Zedan said. “That man (Baffert) is a good, decent family man and I will not stand for any more insults, any more criminal allegation to a man that has been nothing but great to a sport that we all love.”

Related: Baffert is denied stay of suspension by Kentucky commission

Zedan, who was at the Saudi Cup as owner of the Baffert-trained Country Grammer, was asked by interviewer Nick Luck whether he would switch any possible Kentucky Derby horses to another trainer. He first replied that Baffert “will be there.”

Baffert is banned from Churchill Downs Inc. tracks for two years, which would keep his horses out of the Derby. Answering the hypothetical, Zedan said he would stick with Baffert.

“If I were to have a horse that is trained by Bob Baffert that theoretically would probably be in the Derby, it’s either Bob and I go or we don’t go,” Zedan said. “We’re one team.”

The owner criticized the Kentucky stewards for not recognizing the difference between betamethasone that is injected and what the Baffert team has claimed happened in the Medina Spirit case, the use of a topical cream. He also said he believed a potential lawsuit would be successful.

Zedan said he would accept defeat if he felt he received fair process.

“I think once this case is in the public domain, in presence of an impartial, objective judge in the court system, there is no doubt in my mind, absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will win this,” Zedan said.

Medina Spirit was disqualified from the Kentucky Derby win Monday after a hearing with the Kentucky stewards last week. Baffert’s attorneys have said they would challenge the ruling to the KHRC and take it to court if that fails.

The stewards also issued Baffert a 90-day suspension and a $7,500 fine. He asked for a stay of the suspension, a request that was denied on Friday, prompting the trainer’s attorney Craig Robertson to release a statement saying they will sue if needed in an attempt to get a stay by the suspension’s scheduled start date, March 8.