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The source of all the trouble was a medication called betamethasone, which Baffert has steadfastly argued was administered in an ointment for a rash on Medina Spirit’s hindquarters.

Baffert was tipped off about a week later that there was a positive medication test for betamethasone, a drug that is legal but not on race day, and flew to Louisville.

He held a fiery impromptu news conference in which he said that he did not give the colt betamethasone.

When the positive test was revealed, Baffert initially disputed it in the strongest terms only to reverse course a few days later and say the drug, betamethasone, was administered through an ointment to treat a rash.

In 2021, his colt Medina Spirit won the Derby but subsequently was disqualified after testing positive for betamethasone, a potent corticosteroid used to reduce pain and inflammation.