MEDINA Spirit’s trainer has admitted to using ointment containing steroids after the Kentucky Derby horse tested positive for steroids.

Bob Baffert, 68, said in a statement Tuesday the horse had undergone treatment before the big race with an ointment containing the steroid betamethasone.

While legal as a therapeutic drug for horses, betamethasone is illegal when found in the blood on race day.

The colt is due to race in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, the second leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown.

Baffert, who has won the Preakness a record seven times, is not expected to attend the Baltimore race.

Race organizers said Tuesday Baffert had agreed to his horses being monitored and undergoing blood tests by the Maryland Racing Commission in order to run on Saturday.

An official said the results of the pre-race tests would be known on Friday.

Medina Spirit is currently betting favorite with bookmakers at 9-5.

Another Baffert-trained horse, Concert Tour, begins as a 5-2 favorite.

The 10-horse field does not include Mandaloun, which finished second at the Derby.

Medina Spirit won the Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs but later tested positive for the drug.

Churchill Downs has announced Medina Spirit will be disqualified as the Kentucky Derby winner if a second test – called a “split sample” – comes back positive.

The results of that test are not expected back for several weeks.

Baffet, in a prepared statement, claimed Medina Spirit developed dermatitis on his hind end after the Santa Anita Derby on April 3.

“I had him checked out by my veterinarian who recommended the use of an anti-fungal ointment called Otomax,” Baffert said. “The veterinary recommendation was to apply this ointment daily to give the horse relief, help heal the dermatitis and prevent it from spreading.

“My barn followed this recommendation and Medina Spirit was treated with Otomax once a day up until the day before the Kentucky Derby.”

Baffert said he learned Monday that Otomax includes betamethasone.

“While we do not know definitively that this was the source of the alleged 21 picograms found in Medina Spirit’s post-race blood sample, and our investigation is continuing, I have been told by equine pharmacology experts that this could explain the test results,” Baffert said. “As such, I wanted to be forthright about this fact as soon as I learned of this information. … I intend to continue to investigate and I will continue to be transparent.”

Dr Mary Scollay, the former equine medical director for the KHRC and is now the executive director of the Lexington-based Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, said the “vast majority” of drug violations are the result of mistakes, not intentionally breaking the rules.

“It would be hard to believe that anybody would choose to try and get away with giving one of these medications and think they’re going to beat the test,” Scollay said. “Everybody knows these are the substances that are tested for every sample, every day. When you get a finding for one of the controlled therapeutic substances, your first thought is somebody made a mistake. Otherwise, you’re a really bad criminal.”

Only once has a Kentucky Derby winner been disqualified because of a drug violation.

In 1968, Dancer’s Image finished first and Forward Pass came in second. But after the discovery of phenylbutazone in a post-race urinalysis of Dancer’s Image, Forward Pass was declared the winner.

After nearly four years of litigation, Kentucky’s highest court upheld the KHRC’s decision.

Former President Donald Trump has also waded into events, calling Medina Spirit a “junky” on his recently launched personal website.

"So now even our Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, is a junky," Trump wrote. "This is emblematic of what is happening to our Country. The whole world is laughing at us as we go to hell on our Borders, our fake Presidential Election, and everywhere else."

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