Trump lays into ‘junky’ Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirt, says failed drugs test is ‘emblematic of what’s happening to country’

Ex-US President Donald Trump has branded Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit a 'junky' after the horse failed a drugs test and its legendary Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was suspended following revelations at the weekend.

Banned from major social network platforms, Trump took to a blog on his official website to address the matter.

"So now even our Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit, is a junky," Trump wrote in a short message-board type post.

"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!" he seethed.

Detractors found Trump's outburst "baffling", with CNN's Jim Acosta claiming he "double-checked to make sure it didn’t come out of The Onion" in reference to the popular spoof news site. 

But for the disgraced Baffert, the problem is very real.

If Medina Spirit - which was bought for just $1,000 as a yearling - fails a second drug test, the runner-up of the race on May 1, Mandaloun, and its owners will be awarded the $1.8 million prize money that the Churchill Downs race hands out.

Revealing the news to reporters yesterday, Baffert commented: "I got the biggest gut punch in racing for something I didn't do."

"It's such an injustice to the horse. I don't feel embarrassed, I feel like I was robbed," the 68-year-old confessed.

"But I'm going to fight it tooth and nail, because I owe it to the horse. I owe it to the owner and I owe it to our industry.

"There are problems in racing, but it's not Bob Baffert. I don't believe in conspiracy theories, but why is it happening to me?" he asked.

"This shouldn't have happened. There's a problem somewhere. It didn't come from us," Baffert concluded.

Clearly disgusted by the developments, the California based trainer will not find any support or sympathy from Trump until he has cleared his name.

With five of his horses coming up with failed drug tests in a little over a year, though, chances of innocence are slim.

Just last month, he managed to overturn a 15-day ban and the disqualification of Gamine and Charlatan after their samples returned traces of an illicit raceday medication known as lidocaine, which was identified as being cross-contaminated by a pain-relief patch that had been worn by Baffert's assistant.

Receiving just a $10,000 fine instead, Baffert got off with a slap on the wrists and separately said "I am very aware of the several incidents this year concerning my horses and the impact it has had on my family, horse racing, and me."

"I want to have a positive influence on the sport of horse racing. Horses have been my life and I owe everything to them and the tremendous sport in which I have been so fortunate to be involved," he concluded.

This is of course not the first time that Trump has spoken up on the Kentucky Derby and its controversies.

Almost two years ago to the day, he took to Twitter to complain about a decision granting victory to a second-placed horse - as will be the case if Medina Spirit fails another drug test - which was then compared to similarities with the 2016 US presidential election by users online.

"The Kentucky Derby decision was not a good one," Trump wrote. 

"It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track, actually, a beautiful thing to watch.

"Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur. The best horse did NOT win the Kentucky Derby – not even close!," he signed off.