Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) winner Medina Spirit  died after a Dec. 6 workout at Santa Anita Park, according to California Horse Racing Board equine medical director Jeff Blea and Dionne Benson, chief veterinary officer for The Stronach Group, which owns the racetrack.Blea characterized Medina Spirit’s passing as a sudden death. After watching video of the incident he said it looked like a “classic case of a heart attack.” The incident occurred on the track, just after the 3-year-old son of Protonico   completed a five-furlong move in a handy 1:01 2/5 Monday at Santa Anita. Medina Spirit is owned by Amr Zedan’s Zedan Racing Stables and trained by Bob Baffert.Medina Spirit won the May 1 Derby at Churchill Downs but that victory is in question after the horse failed a post-race drug test when he tested positive for betamethasone. Attorneys for Baffert and Zedan have argued that the positive was a result of an application from an ointment rather than in injection of the corticosteroid. They said Friday further testing of the sample in New York provides evidence of that assertion, which they believe should be exculpatory or mitigating.
Kentucky stewards have not yet conducted a hearing.