(Reuters) – Rombauer pulled off a late surge to win the 146th running of the Preakness Stakes yesterday at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, ending Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s Triple Crown bid.
The bay colt settled into the middle of the pack as favorites Medina Spirit and Midnight Bourbon led through much of the 1-3/16 mile (9.5 furlongs) dirt track race but came alive down the final stretch to claim victory in front of a limited, 10,000-capacity crowd.
“So proud of this horse, everybody involved,” trainer Mike McCarthy said in an emotional on-air interview. “It just goes to show you that small players in the game can be successful as well.”
It was McCarthy’s first-ever win in a Triple Crown race. Jockey Flavien Prat won the Kentucky Derby in 2019.
The win ended Medina Spirit’s Triple Crown bid but spared the sport an unusual predicament, after the Bob Baffert-trained horse failed a drug test following his successful run at Churchill Downs.
If the positive test for the anti-inflammatory drug betamethasone is confirmed, it would strip the horse of his Kentucky Derby win.
“There was never any attempt to game or cheat the system and Medina Spirit earned his Kentucky Derby win,” Baffert, who was not in attendance at the race on Saturday, said in a statement issued to NBC Sports.
He previously said the use of a topical ointment could explain the failed test and reached an agreement with Maryland state horse racing regulators that included “rigorous testing and monitoring” to allow Medina Spirit to compete yesterday.
