The Kentucky Derby field is down to 19. This morning, Grande was scratched from the race due to a foot bruise. The news comes the day after Rodriguez, one of Bob Baffert’s horses, was scratched, also because of a foot bruise.
Grande, which is trained by Todd Pletcher and owned by Mike Repole, was the runner-up in the Wood Memorial. He had 50-1 odds before the news broke. Baeza was added to the field following Rodriguez’s scratch on Thursday.
This is the latest bad bounce for Pletcher and Repole in the Run for the Roses. In 2023, Forte, the morning-line favorite, was scratched the morning of the race, also because of a foot bruise. Last year, the pair had the Derby favorite, Fierceness, who finished 15th. This marks the first year since 2003 that Pletcher will not have a horse in the Derby.
Repole, who has gained some fame for his part in the Netflix series Race for the Crown, shared his disappointment over Grande’s scratch in a lengthy post on social media.
“The heel has improved throughout the week and it also improved again this morning. Unfortunately the vets told us this morning they were scratching the horse despite the clean diagnostics. We were very confused with all the clean diagnostics and improvement all week, why they rushed to judgment to scratch today.
“With the race being tomorrow, and Baeza already having drawn into the race, we are also shocked and confused why this decision was made now. We were given no real explanation why Grande was scratched 36 hours before the race.”
More scratches could be on the way. Render Judgment, trained by last year’s winning trainer Kenny McPeek, has a quarter crack in its left front hoof. It’s receiving therapy and is considered probable for the race. For now, the field is set at 19.
Kentucky Derby 151 Odds
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Citizen Bull | Bob Baffert | Martin Garcia | 15-1 |
| 2 | Neoequos | Saffie Joseph Jr. | Luis Saez | 51-1 |
| 3 | Final Gambit | Brad Cox | Luan Machado | 16-1 |
| SCR | ||||
| 5 | American Promise | D. Wayne Lukas | Nik Juarez | 12-1 |
| 6 | Admire Daytona | Yukihiro Kato | Christophe Lemaire | 38-1 |
| 7 | Luxor Cafe | Noriyuki Hori | Joao Moreira | 13-1 |
| 8 | Journalism | Michael McCarthy | Umberto Rispoli | 7-2 |
| 9 | Burnham Square | Ian Wilkes | Brian Hernandez Jr. | 17-1 |
| SCR | ||||
| 11 | Flying Mohawk | Whit Beckman | Joe Ramos | 34-1 |
| 12 | East Avenue | Brendan Walsh | Manny Franco | 32-1 |
| 13 | Publisher | Steve Asmussen | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 28-1 |
| 14 | Tiztastic | Steve Asmussen | Joel Rosario | 18-1 |
| 15 | Render Judgment | Kenny McPeek | Julien Leparoux | 12-1 |
| 16 | Coal Battle | Lonnie Briley | Juan Vargas | 28-1 |
| 17 | Sandman | Mark Casse | Jose Ortiz | 5-1 |
| 18 | Sovereignty | Bill Mott | Junior Alvarado | 10-1 |
| 19 | Chunk of Gold | Ethan West | Jareth Loveberry | 30-1 |
| 20 | Owen Almighty | Brian Lynch | Javier Castellano | 40-1 |
| 21 | Baeza | John Shirreffs | Flavien Prat | 29-1 |
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