'We'll never get to know just how good he was': Kentucky Derby champ Medina Spirit has died

For Christy Whitman, owner of Whitman Sales in Ocala, 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s legacy “should have been a Seabiscuit fairytale story.” 

After the 3-year-old suddenly died of a heart attack on Monday while working out at Santa Anita Park in California, however, she fears the Ocala-bred horse's story “will fade away in a swirl of speculation and controversy.” 

“I can only hope that the world will remember and appreciate the true champion that was Medina Spirit as much as those of us who were fortunate enough to have had him in our lives, if only for a fleeting moment,” Whitman wrote in a text. 

Horse Farms Forever Conservation Summit:Balancing Marion County growth and preservation

Success story:Former North Marion equine student, 22, sells $70K yearling at Ocala Breeders' Sales

More than 1 million lights:World Equestrian Center goes big for its first holiday season

Whitman purchased Medina Spirit for just $1,000 at an Ocala Breeders’ Sale auction in 2019 and sold the colt for $35,000 at OBS in 2020 to Amr Zedan of Zedan Racing Stables in Saudi Arabia. 

Trained by Bob Baffert, the horse went on to win the Kentucky Derby on May 1, a victory that would become controversial a week later when Medina Spirit tested positive for betamethasone, a corticosteroid illegal if found in the blood on race day. 

While new information last week showed the substance was present from an ointment and not an injection, and Baffert is still serving a two-year suspension from Churchill Downs, it is still inconclusive whether the victory will be upheld. 

'His big heart and his will to win'

Nonetheless, members of the Marion County horse community mourned Medina Spirit’s death on Monday and hope he will have a legacy beyond the disputed win. 

“He’s always going to be remembered for his big heart and his will to win,” Gail Rice, who bred the horse at her farm in Marion County, said through sniffles. “He’s a fabulous horse, and everybody knows it now. The derby was his perfect day. He won, and he won it his way, and he’s been such a happy horse.” 

Rice pointed to the horse’s other performances, including a third-place finish in the Preakness and a second-place finish at the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in November, as examples of his athleticism and ability to succeed. 

“This horse is a champion, a total champion, and for us in Ocala, it’s just like he’s a superstar,” Rice said. “He came from here. He’s Florida-bred. He was born here on this ground, and for everybody he’s like the people’s horse here.” 

Rice had too many horses and was forced to sell Medina Spirit in 2019. Francis Vanlangendonck, owner of Summerfield Sales, consigned him. 

“I know Bob was awful proud of the horse and awful excited about him being an athlete, and I assume the horse was going to run for a while,” Vanlangendonck said. “He was looking forward to the future. He said the horse was awful talented.” 

Fear of a tarnished reputation

With all the speculation and testing surrounding Medina Spirit and Baffert, Vanlangendonck thinks it unlikely he would be doing anything to prompt further questioning but fears people will speculate about unnatural causes of the heart attack. 

“Now I just anticipate everybody to pile on, and it’s just horrible that it’s happening when it’s something like this that’s natural,” Vanlangendonck said. "There’s going to be a lot of people thinking there was something else making it happen. It’s just unfortunate for Bob at the time, and the horse.” 

Vanlangendonck and Rice both said that horses die just like people do, whether from sicknesses, accidents or otherwise. 

“We all have to die one day, and we wished it had been later than sooner for this horse, but it’s our business, and it’s our love and these animals are our life,” Rice said. “I know that he had the best care, and Baffert and his crew, they loved this horse.” 

'We'll never get to know just how good he was'

Whitman, who had previously told the Star-Banner about taking a chance on the horse despite his light pedigree, wrote that she was “devastated” for “everyone who was associated with or touched by the courageousness of Medina Spirit.” 

“We'll never get to know just how good he was, which is so disappointing because he was just going to get better and better as he matured,” she stated. 

Medina Spirit, a son of Protonico out of Mongolian Changa, had a 5-4-1 record in his 10 starts, which earned $3,545,200 for Zedan Racing Stables. 

“We’re going to celebrate the great horse that he is and he was, and I know that he’s in God’s hands right now because God wrapped his hands around this horse from birth, before birth,” Rice said. “I couldn’t have asked for a bigger blessing in my life than to have this horse.” 

According to Santa Anita Park, blood, hair and urine samples were immediately taken and sent to the California Horse Racing Board, and a full necropsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death. 

Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.