It seems unreal to think this matter still has not been settled eight months later.
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Hollendorfer’s civil suit will begin shortly. As the TDN Writers Room podcast mentioned, the racing press may as well have a “court TV” broadcast.
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I thought that the hearing in Kentucky was scheduled for today. It turns out I remembered right, but it’s been rescheduled.
Oh FFS 
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Which one of these do you mean to be correct?
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I have been a racing enthusiast (to obsessive fan) since Spend A Buck won the 1985 Kentucky Derby. For decades, instead of counting sheep when I couldn’t sleep, I mentally recited Derby winners from 1969-on.
But this BS with Medina Spirit still being named the official 2021 Kentucky Derby winner – nonetheless there not yet even having a hearing to determine his status as winner–has really soured me on this sport. Really soured me.
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Me too. Both samples were positive. Done and over, in my mind.
Racing needs to implement some changes quickly. I’m not sure how it can be done without a National governing body. For now we have to hope that the States will work through all of this litigation and end up with some judicial precedents before the sport crashes and burns.
We are looking at the demise of TB breeding in the U.S. if we don’t clean this up and have clear and concise rules that apply to everyone. The thought of losing TB breeding in the U.S. breaks my heart.
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Along with TSG’s reluctance to make any statement at all about Baffert.
There’s no mystery behind the silence - Baffert fills a lot of stalls and a lot of races at Stronach’s CA tracks. But they banned Hollendorfer (who I think probably needed at least a “time out”) with the reason given that they’re so concerned about horse welfare.
BS. All they care about is their bottom line. The Dorf was bad publicity at a time when the spotlight was on Santa Anita’s breakdown rate. With Baffert they’re just laying low and thanking God that all the media focus is on the 2021 Derby.
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the decline in breeding probably has more to do with fewer people having discretionary income to play with horses, especially playing with racehorses in training.
it’s the same thing that hits all pricier past times. (but the breeding needs cleaning up…the principle is so sad to me: Breed it and sell it as fast as you can, then return it to the breeding shed even faster. there is no more longevity included)
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The decline in breeding is not was I was referring to. It is the decimation of the TB breed in the U.S. if horse racing becomes a thing of the past because it is seen as abusive to horses.
Trainers and vets that are not abiding by the rules, and the attendant publicity, might well bring down the entire sport. It’s a matter of racing cleaning house before someone else does it for them.
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In any other country the horse would have been disqualified when the second sample was tested positive. Doesn’t matter if it was contamination or not, I don’t understand why nothing have been done 8 months later.
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It goes hand in hand.
fewer of te little guys can play at all - think Appleby’s
Interesting read…
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Did anyone else, upon hearing about that Russian figure skater testing positive for a banned substance back in Dec and still competing in the Olympics think to themselves - this is just like Justify… 
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I thought about Baffert and the track athlete (Sha’Carri Richardson) that got disqualified from the Olympics for marijuana. I like figure skating. I watch it regularly and I like the girl who had the positive test. But if the positive test is confirmed and it’s a banned substance, she should be disqualified.
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No definitive cause. They tested for hundreds of things, it says, including EPO.
WARNING: necropsy photos are the end of the document. Stop at page 13 and skip to page 32 if you are at all squeamish.
Necropsy here:https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Necropsy-Partial-Redacted.pdf
@Ghazzu, what do you make of this necropsy? His left fore? Would he have lameness issues? (Betamethasone?)
I didn’t know Medina Spirit was cryptorchid.
I was really hoping the necropsy would show an obvious cause of death.
Did they ever figure out what killed Swale?
I think it was a lesion in his heart tissue or something like that. I’m sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong. 
I have to say I was saddened to see the extent of the skeletal abnormalities in a young horse in training. However, I haven’t seen enough necropsy reports of similar age/circumstance to have a basis for comparison wrt how “bad” it may be.
I would expect some degree of pain.
Some years back I took a skeletal manipulation (aka chiropractic) course. One of the instructors had extensive experience with examination of skeletal (spine/pelvis in particular) lesions in “fit” TB racehorses. He told us he was shocked at the often extensive pathology he found in horses that had shown minimal, if any, signs of musculoskeletal pain. (some of these horses had died of colic, etc–not necessarily from on the track breakdowns).
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