Bob Baffert-trained horse scratched from Kentucky Derby ahead of Hall of Famer's return to Churchill Downs
The field for the 151st edition of the Kentucky Derby was reduced to 19 by Friday after two horses were scratched with potential complications, including one colt trained by legendary trainer Bob Baffert.
Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial winner, was scratched Thursday due to a bruised foot and will instead be sidelined until the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes on May 17.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we have made a very tough decision to scratch our Derby horse, Rodriguez," Tom Ryan of Starlight Racing, one of the colt's multiple owners, confirmed in a post on X.
"He has a small but slightly sensitive foot bruise that will need a few more days. Therefore, we are resetting our plans and will target him for the Preakness."
Rodriguez was one of two horses trained by Baffert competing in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. The Hall of Fame trainer is returning to Churchill Downs for the first time since Medina Spirit's Kentucky Derby victory in 2021, a title that was later stripped because of a positive drug test resulting in a three-year suspension for Baffert.
"It was an honest mistake," Baffert said in a sitdown interview with "Fox & Friends" on Friday morning. "The testing levels are so low now … It was in an ointment, and we didn't realize until about 48 hours that it was being used humanly – he had a horrible skin rash."
"We were fighting for the horse," Baffert said of the legal battle that ensued after Medina Spirit's title was stripped. He said fallout was never over a denial of a positive drug test. "He earned that win."
Baffert will still have a horse in the race as he pursues a record-breaking seventh win at the Kentucky Derby – a record he briefly held in 2021. Citizen Bull, a two-year-old colt, drew the dreaded No. 1 post for Saturday's race.
Baeza entered the 20-horse field in place of Rodriguez, but the field was reduced to 19 after Grande was also scratched on Friday with a cracked heel.
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