Who owns Mandaloun? Horse may win $1.8M Kentucky Derby prize as winner Medina Spirit fails drug test
On Wednesday, June 2, Churchill Downs announced that trainer Bob Baffer would be suspended for two years after a second drug test on Medina Spirit revealed the presence of the steroid betamethasone in the Kentucky Derby winner's system. If disqualified, Mandaloun would emerge as the winner of the tournament.
Medina Spirit's disqualification due to testing positive for drugs could be the next step. Before making that decision, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission must complete its investigation. Early in May this year, former president Donald Trump called the horse a 'junky' in his Tweet-like statement.
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The horse is owned by Amr Zedan, 47, who was an international polo player. He is also an entrepreneur who chairs a family-owned group of businesses based in Saudi Arabia. Clark Brewster, a lawyer who represents Medina Spirit's owner revealed, the failed test to The New York Times.
Who owns Mandaloun?
Mandaloun is an American Thoroughbred racehorse that came second to Medina Spirit in the Kentucky Derby in 2021. Mandaloun was born in Kentucky and is a dark bay colt. Florent Geroux is his jockey while Brad H Cox is his trainer. Mandaloun gets its name from "a type of mullioned (or decorative partition) window from traditional Lebanese architecture", according to US Racing.
The horse is owned by Juddmonte Farms, a horse-breeding farm that was owned by Prince Khalid bin Abdullah of Saudi Arabia until his death on January 12, 2021. The prince was a member of the House of Saud, the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. He had a wide range of business interests, which he managed through Mawarid Holding, but he is best recognized for being the owner of Juddmonte Farms. As a result, he was one of the most influential personalities in the world of Thoroughbred horseracing, and his racing colors have been worn by notable horses such as Dancing Brave, Enable, Frankel and Arrogate.
As for Medina Spirit, it would become only the second horse in the race's 147-year history to be disqualified due to a failed drug test if he received a second positive screening. A second post-race sample indicated a forbidden amount of the corticosteroid, which is administered to relieve pain and swelling in joints, according to a laboratory at the University of California, Davis. The failed test was revealed to The New York Times by Clark Brewster, a lawyer who represents Medina Spirit owner Amr Zedan.
Mandaloun would be upgraded as the Kentucky Derby winner if Medina Spirit is disqualified, and Zedan would be compelled to return the $1.8M winner's purse.