News broke recently that the Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit will be able to race at The Preakness. Medina Spirit failed an initial drug test after the Kentucky Derby.
Equine Veterinarian, Benjamin Espy joined Western Sports Round-Up to explain exactly what the drug does that Medina Spirit had in its system.
“There are two different classifications of steroids one is an anabolic steroid and one is corticosteroids. The corticosteroid is what we are talking about here with Betamethasone. Those are corticosteroids. Those are entirely used to decrease inflammation, not to increase body mass.”
The reason Medina Spirit can run in The Preakness is because each state has different rules. The Kentucky State Racing Commission has different rules than others. Instead of sport-specific regulations, there are state-specific regulations, much like boxing.
Kentucky has a no residue policy, meaning they have a zero-tolerance policy towards medicine.
