Judge does not rule in Medina Spirit urine-sample case

Frankfort, Ky.

Judge Thomas Wingate of the Franklin Circuit Court did not file an order during a Monday motion hour in the lawsuit between Medina Spirit’s connections and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

The KHRC had requested that the judge compel the New York laboratory that tested the Kentucky Derby winner’s primary urine sample, thought to be unusable, to share the results of any testing. [Timeline of events: Bob Baffert's drug melodrama 2018-21]

Wingate said the parties needed to get the results of the testing but wanted them to jointly reach out to the lab in order to obtain them.

“You all get on the phone,” Wingate said. “I’m not going to enter an order compelling or doing anything else. Everybody needs to get results.”

Wingate also offered up his opinion on what might be coming next, once the results of both the primary and split sample are obtained by the parties.

“I’d rather be in your (the KHRC's) shoes than your (Medina Spirit’s connections') shoes,” Wingate said.

Jennifer Wolsing argued on behalf of the KHRC, saying the commission was looking for transparency from the laboratory, which she said initially claimed that the primary urine sample was unusable because it was contaminated in shipping. The lawsuit began after the alleged shipping issues, with trainer Bob Baffert and owner Amr Zedan taking the KHRC to court in order to get the split urine sample tested.

“We did want transparency in these test results,” Wolsing said. “We would also like to know why the order (to not test the damaged primary sample) was violated despite our prevailing statements to the contrary."

Baffert’s attorney Craig Robertson defended the laboratory’s alleged actions and called the motion from the KHRC “much ado about nothing.”

“At the end of the day, what remains of this remnant primary sample is pretty much irrelevant,” Robertson said, noting that the split urine sample arrived at the laboratory in good condition, although he had not heard when test results might come back.

Wingate said he wanted the test results to be returned to the parties so the stewards can meet to determine in the fate of Medina Spirit, who tested positive for betamethasone after winning the Kentucky Derby. The judge noted that, in his opinion, the KHRC is “in the driver’s seat” on the case because of the failed drug tests.

Both the primary and split blood sample tested positive for betamethasone after the Derby on May 1. The split urine sample is being tested in an attempt to prove that the drug entered the colt’s system due to a skin cream, as opposed to an injection, which Robertson has said will make a difference in the case.

Wolsing said the KHRC and the stewards cannot make a final ruling until the results are received.

“We’re still waiting on the testing results,” Wolsing said. “We can’t have stewards hear anything until those testing results have come back.”