Gamblers Who Bet On Medina Spirit Have Nothing To Worry About – Forbes

Medina Spirit, ridden by jockey John Velazquez, won the 147th Kentucky Derby. But now after a failed ... [+] drug test Medina Spirit's win has been called into question.

Medina Spirit, the colt who won the 2021 Kentucky Derby, has failed a post-race drug test. If it fails a second test, Medina Spirit will be disqualifiedlosing its Derby title and the purse. But the gamblers who bet on the underdog will get to keep their winnings.

At the Westgate in Las Vegas, sports book director John Murray laughs when asked if a disqualification will change any of the bets made and paid out in his sportsbook.

Id love to see the reaction of bettors if they were told they need to return the funds, says Murray. This wont impact wagers one way or another. We dont recognize overturned results.

Once a result is official, the bet is over, and the results do not change. After-the-fact technicalities might alter the record books, but they dont change what happened at the sports book.

Bob Heleringer, a Kentucky-based lawyer, former racing official and author of textbook Equine Regulatory Law,says that once the racing results are posted official at the track, the pari-mutuel outcome can never change.

Thats by regulation at every racing state, says Heleringer. There has to be finality to the betting, no matter what happens afterwards. Its for finality and to prevent chaos.

If disqualified, Medina Spirit will be the third horse to have its victory overturned in the Derbys 147-year history. In 1968, Dancers Image failed a post-race drug test and in 2019 Maximum Security was disqualified for impeding the path of horses tailing behind.

Officials at Churchill Downs said in a statement that Mandaloun, the Derbys runner-up, will be declared the winner if Medina Spirits second drug test confirms the positive results.

A post-race blood test found betamethasone, a corticosteroid used to reduce joint pain, in Medina Spirits system.

Churchill Downs also said in its statement that Bob Baffert, the horse trainer hall-of-famer who trained Medina Spirit, has been suspended.

Given the seriousness of the alleged offense, Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert, the trainer of Medina Spirit, from entering any horses at Churchill Downs Racetrack, the track said in a statement. We will await the conclusion of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commissions investigation before taking further steps.

In a news conference, Baffert has denied any wrongdoing. This incident will mark the fifth positive drug test for one of Bafferts horses in more a year.

Heleringer says the last big case litigating whether the pari-mutuel results can be changed involving the first-place horse being disqualified was over thirty years ago.

In August 1986, the stewards of a race at Saratoga Racetrack accidentally disqualified the winner of the race, Allumeuse, and posted the incorrect results. Only after bettors left the stadium did officials admit a mistake was made to the press.

After the kerfuffle, horseracing reporter turned publisher Steve Crist wrotein the New York Times about the incident. New York racing rules state flatly that once the official sign is posted, the payoffs cannot be altered. It would have been illegal for the track to honor winning tickets on Allumeuse, and it also would have set an impossible precedent for the sport, Crist wrote. Every time a winner was disqualified for a positive postrace drug test a day or two after the payoffs had been posted, and every time a racing commission reversed a stewards' ruling, bettors would line up for payoffs and have precedent on their side. Tracks cannot afford to pay out on two winners.

While the bettors get to keep their winnings, if Medina Spirits win is overturned, his owner, Amr Zedan, wont get to keep the $1.8 million first-place check as it will go to the owners of Mandaloun. (Mandaloun is owned by Juddmonte Farms Inc., the international thoroughbred horse racing and breeding outfit founded by the late Prince Khalid bin Abdullah.)

In a statement, horseracing industry trade group The Jockey Club said it hopes justice is swift, sure, fair, and uniform. Bettors and fans need to have unshakable confidence in the integrity of the sport, the Club said.

See more here:

Gamblers Who Bet On Medina Spirit Have Nothing To Worry About - Forbes