Gamblers file class-action lawsuit against horse trainer Bob Baffert

Poor Medina Spirit didn't ask for any of this.

Horse racing's most famous and successful trainer Bob Baffert, who trained Medina Spirit and was later found to have used a banned substance on the horse after winning the Kentucky Derby on May 1, is reportedly being sued by "several gamblers" in a new class-action lawsuit.

"The gamblers in the lawsuit claim they had bet serious money on the horse that finished in second place, Mandaloun," according to TMZ, "and if not for Baffert's dirty horse, they would have won a fortune."

The outlet also included excerpts from the filing in a Californian federal court:

"The Plaintiffs claim there are conspiracies 'between Baffert and other owners and or trainers to commit the above-described acts to engage in illegal gambling and/or horse doping through a pattern of racketeering activity. ... For example, on May 1, 2021, Defendants entered a doped horse, Medina Spirit, into the 147th running of The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky and won $1,860,000.00 as part of a horse-doping scheme in thoroughbred racing."

Baffert has won seven Kentucky Derby crowns in his career, including one during American Pharoah's historic Triple Crown run in 2015.

While all of this is going on, Medina Spirit is still allowed to run in Saturday's (May 15) Preakness Stakes. Baffert has another horse named Concert Tour in the lineup, too.