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Questions still plague horse racing following running of Preakness

Flavien Prat is atop Rombauer as they win the 146th Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday in Baltimore. (AP photo)

BALTIMORE — After a week dominated by the failed drug test of trainer Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby-winning Medina Spirit, horse racing enjoyed a rare moment to celebrate at the Preakness when unheralded Rombauer gave owners John and Diane Fradkin and trainer Michael McCarthy a victory in their first Triple Crown race.

That moment is fleeting.

With the Belmont Stakes on June 5 wrapping up the Triple Crown series, the sport is filled with more questions than answers. Even if Rombauer goes to the Belmont potentially facing Derby favorite Essential Quality and Preakness runner-up Midnight Bourbon, the focus will remain on Baffert and the medication of horses.

Medina Spirit still faces potential disqualification from the Derby unless a second round of testing comes back negative. The colt tested positive for the steroid betamethasone, which Baffert said could have come from an ointment for a skin condition.

“Our investigation is continuing, and I don’t have definitive answers at this point,” Baffert said in a statement Saturday. “All I ask is that everyone not rush to judgment.”

If Medina Spirit is cleared and remains in the history books as the Kentucky Derby winner, the issue could fade into the background with the Horse Racing Safety and Integrity Act’s implementation on the horizon next summer.

Medina Spirit and fellow Baffert-trained Concert Tour each passed three rounds of pre-Preakness drug tests as a condition of being able to run. Medina Spirit finished third and Concert Tour a disappointing ninth in a 10-horse field.

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