FOG BLOG SPORTS LOG: ROMBAUER BEATS MEDINA SPIRIT TO WIN PREAKNESS STAKES:

Rombauer bests Medina Spirit, Midnight Bourbon to win 2021 Preakness Stakes as 11-1 long shot.......BALTIMORE -- Rombauer left Medina Spirit behind -- and put horse racing's latest controversy on the back burner.

Little-known Rombauer sprung an 11-1 upset to win the Preakness on Saturday, passing Bob Baffert's Kentucky Derby winner to end a potential Triple Crown bid that would have carried a giant asterisk.

Medina Spirit finished third and will not go on to the Belmont with a Triple Crown on the line and a potential Derby disqualification hanging over the sport.

Baffert was not present at Pimlico Race Course, opting to stay away because of the controversy surrounding Medina Spirit, who tested positive for the steroid betamethasone in post-Derby testing. He said in a statement hours before the race: "Today is not about Bob Baffert. Instead it is about Medina Spirit and all of the other equine athletes in our tremendous sport."

All the focus nonetheless was on 2-1 favorite Medina Spirit, Baffert and his other Preakness runner, Concert Tour, who went off at 4-1. Medina Spirit was passed for the first time in his career by Rombauer, who won by 3½ lengths over second-place Midnight Bourbon.