It would seem that some controversy has erupted after the 174th running of the Kentucky Derby. You can read my post about it here. It was a truly exciting race and the fact that the winning horse wasn't getting the hype that some of the others were getting ahead of the race was pretty remarkable.
In fact, if you go back and look at my post, you will see that the winning horse had an insane 12 to 1 odds of winning the race. Many of the favorites were in the 5 to 1 or 4 to 1 range.
Can you imagine that? A $100 bet would have netted you $1200 (or there abouts). Those are the kind of returns we only hear about in crypto these days!
Perhaps it wasn't as miraculous as we thought. It has come out that Medina Spirit, the winner of the 174th Kentucky Derby has tested positive for an anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone.
Betamethasone is not a prohibited substance for horses, but it is required that they do not have any trace of the drug in their system for 14 days prior to a race.
Additionally, Medina Spirit has to undergo a second drug screening. Should that screening fall in line with the first one, the horse will be disqualified. If that ends up being the outcome, Medina Spirit will be only the third first place finisher to be disqualified.
The Yahoo Article I was reading also indicates this could throw the betting world into turmoil. With so much of this stuff happening online these days and users having already cashed out, how would a disqualification impact things? I don't really think they can force people to give the money back?
Where does that leave people who bet on Mandaloun? With Medina Spirit disqualified, Mandaloun would be the new winner. With an odds of 26-1, you better believe I would be wanting to know if I might be getting some form of payout!
Unfortunately, even if Medina Spirit passes the second drug test, there will now be a continuous cloud over the whole race. Will Medina Spirit be able to run in the other two triple crown races this year? Will the team behind Medina Spirit be sanctioned? They are already suspended pending the results of the investigation.
I used to love watching the Tour De France on TV. Then all the stuff with Lance Armstrong happened and the rampant doping became clear and obvious to everyone. If that were to happen in horse racing would it be able to recover?
Baseball apparently did, but this could be a different animal all together :)
