LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Churchill Downs lifted its suspension of star trainer Bob Baffert on Friday, opening the door for Baffert’s return at the 2025 Kentucky Derby.

“We are satisfied that Mr Baffert has taken responsibility for his actions, completed a substantial penalty, and is committed to running in full compliance with the rules and regulations going forward,” Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI) chief executive Bill Carstanjen said in a statement.

“All parties agree that it is time to bring this chapter to a close and focus on the future. Mr Baffert is welcome to return to any of CDI’s racetracks, including our flagship Churchill Downs racetrack, and we wish him and his connections good luck in their future competitive endeavours.”

The Louisville track’s reinstatement of Baffert brings to a close a years-long saga that began when Baffert was suspended for two years in 2021 when Medina Spirit failed a post-race drug test after winning the Kentucky Derby.

The Baffert-trained horse was disqualified and died later in 2021.

Baffert initially denied giving the banned steroid betamethasone to Medina Spirit, eventually saying he had found it was an ingredient used in a cream to treat a rash on the horse.

Baffert’s initial ban had been scheduled to end in 2023 but in July of that year Churchill Downs accused him of continuing “to peddle a false narrative concerning the failed drug test of Medina Spirit.”

That case was among five drug-related violations in a 12-month span for Baffert, and Churchill Downs said in 2021 it was extending the suspension due to “continued concerns regarding the threat to the safety and integrity of racing he poses”.

That meant the Baffert-trained Muth, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Amr Zedan, wasn’t allowed to enter the Kentucky Derby last May, despite a legal fight.

Baffert has trained six Kentucky Derby winners, including Triple Crown winners American Pharoah and Justify.

Baffert issued a statement accepting responsibility for Medina Spirit’s positive drug test.

“I understand and appreciate that Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission took steps to enforce the rules that they believed were necessary to protect the safety and integrity of horse racing and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby,” Baffert said in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter.