“Who would’ve thought an ointment — an ointment — took down the Kentucky Derby winner?” Bob Baffert told ESPN in 2022. The Triple Crown-winning trainer said this nearly a year after Churchill Downs Inc. stripped his horse Medina Spirit of his Kentucky Derby title. Back then, the six-time Derby winner argued that he never got his “due process” in the controversy surrounding Medina Spirit failing a test the day after winning the 2021. Almost three years later, Baffert’s outlook has changed, but one thing remains the same.

The iconic Derby horse trainer is vying to make Kentucky Derby history in his bid to win a seventh title. But before Baffert gets the opportunity to do that, the veteran trainer sat down with Fox News’ Janice Dean, where he revisited the controversy that sparked his three-year suspension. Yet this time, the 72-year-old’s statement proved that he had not only moved on but had come to terms with the CDI’s decision following the incident.

So when Dean stated that the infamous ‘ointment’ may not have been applied with the “performance enhancing” internet, Bob Baffert made a different argument. “At the end of the day, it cannot be in the horse’s system,” the legendary trainer told Fox News. And while Baffert fought against it three years ago, this was also the crux of CDI and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s decision to bar Baffert.

Yet, the 72-year-old also explained that he didn’t take the fight to Churchill Downs Inc. because of his fame and glory, but for the Medina Spirit. “The reason we kept fighting it, we never denied the positive (test), right? We were fighting for the horse, you know. That horse… He earned that win,” said the leading Kentucky Derby-winning trainer. That stance never changed.

Bob Baffert’s statement to Fox News echoed exactly what he had said during the original ESPN interview in 2022. “That’s something that we’re going to, you know, we’re gonna fight vigorously to save that horse’s Kentucky Derby, because he … deserved the win,” the two-time Triple Crown winner said three years ago. However, that Medina Spirit saga is one thing the horse racing icon doesn’t want to focus on anymore.

Bob Baffert and CDI have buried the hatchet

For over a year, Baffert went head-to-head with CDI. The renowned trainer filed for legal action, and CDI extended his suspension in July 2023. Ultimately, none of it moved the needle. So, the 72-year-old decided to put it all behind him in July 2024. The six-time Kentucky Derby winner came to terms with the incident. He also looked at it from the CDI and Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s perspectives.

“I am responsible for any substance found in the horses that I train, and I have paid a very steep price with a three-year suspension and the disqualification of Medina Spirit’s performance. I understand and appreciate that Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission took steps to enforce the rules,” Bob Baffert said in his statement, as per Fox News.

Churchill Downs lifted his suspension shortly after that. Since then, the trainer has spoken at length about the incident and his decisions following the suspension. Baffert also explained he no longer wants to revisit the topic. “It’s one of those things where I’m just tired of talking about it,” Bob Baffert told the Associated Press.

The “tough” three years have left their mark on Baffert mentally and financially. So Baffert’s only goal is to return to form at the 2025 Kentucky Derby. “I’m going to have fun now that everything is behind me,” he told the Associated Press. And while scratching Rodriguez from the race was a hard decision, the 72-year-old is looking to win big with Citizen Bull.