Bob Baffert says Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was treated with ointment that contains steroid

Trainer Bob Baffert on Tuesday acknowledged his horse Medina Spirit was treated with an ointment containing a steroid in the days leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The statement comes after racing officials said the horse tested positive for Betamethasone, a substance that violates the race's rules.

Baffert said a veterinarian checked on Medina Spirit and treated the horse's dermatitis with the ointment Otomax, which contains betamethasone. Baffert said he learned the banned substance was in the ointment on Monday and the horse was treated with it daily until the day before the Derby. "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," the statement said. "As such, I wanted to be forthright about this fact as soon as I learned of this information."