Latest news with #AlwaysDreaming
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kentucky Derby 2025: Grande scratched from race, reducing field to 19 horses
A second horse has been scratched from Saturday's Kentucky Derby, a day and a half before the 2025 race. Grande was scratched due to a foot bruise, owner Mike Repole announced Friday. The horse was slated to start in the ninth post and was at 20-1 odds before being pulled from the race. All horses that were on the outside of Grande will now move in one gate on Saturday. For trainer Todd Pletcher, Grande's scratch will end his record streak of 21 consecutive Derbies. His horses have twice won the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver finishing first in 2010 and Always Dreaming winning in 2017. John Velazquez was to have been Grande's jockey. "Unfortunately, the vets have decided to scratch Grande from tomorrow's Kentucky Derby," Repole posted on X on Friday. "He has been battling a slight cracked heel this week which has been improving," he continued. "To be cautious, Todd X-rayed on Monday and the horse had clean X-rays. On Wednesday, the state vets asked us if we could do a PET scan, and Grande had that yesterday and it was also clean." However, despite the clean diagnostics and improvement during the week, Kentucky state veterinarians decided to scratch Grande. Repole's team was "shocked" and "confused" by the ruling, he said. "The heel has improved throughout the week and it also improved again this morning," Repole added. "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." This will be the third time Repole has had a horse scratched from the Derby. Uncle Mo was pulled from the race in 2011 due to a gastrointestinal infection. And in 2023, Forte was scratched on the morning of the event because of a bruised right foot. Repole has never had a horse win the Derby in eight tries. Grande joins Rodriguez as scratches from Saturday's race. Trained by Bob Baffert and opening as a 12-1 favorite, Rodriguez was scratched on Thursday because of a foot bruise. The field for the 2025 Kentucky Derby is now down to 19 horses.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kentucky Derby 2025: Grande scratched from race, reducing field to 19 horses
A second horse has been scratched from Saturday's Kentucky Derby, a day and a half before the 2025 race. Grande was scratched due to a foot bruise, owner Mike Repole announced Friday. The horse was slated to start in the ninth post and was at 20-1 odds before being pulled from the race. All horses that were on the outside of Grande will now move in one gate on Saturday. For trainer Todd Pletcher, Grande's scratch will end his record streak of 21 consecutive Derbies. His horses have twice won the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver finishing first in 2010 and Always Dreaming winning in 2017. John Velazquez was to have been Grande's jockey. "Unfortunately, the vets have decided to scratch Grande from tomorrow's Kentucky Derby," Repole posted on X on Friday. "He has been battling a slight cracked heel this week which has been improving," he continued. "To be cautious, Todd X-rayed on Monday and the horse had clean X-rays. On Wednesday, the state vets asked us if we could do a PET scan, and Grande had that yesterday and it was also clean." However, despite the clean diagnostics and improvement during the week, Kentucky state veterinarians decided to scratch Grande. Repole's team was "shocked" and "confused" by the ruling, he said. "The heel has improved throughout the week and it also improved again this morning," Repole added. "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." This will be the third time Repole has had a horse scratched from the Derby. Uncle Mo was pulled from the race in 2011 due to a gastrointestinal infection. And in 2023, Forte was scratched on the morning of the event because of a bruised right foot. Repole has never had a horse win the Derby in eight tries. Grande joins Rodriguez as scratches from Saturday's race. Trained by Bob Baffert and opening as a 12-1 favorite, Rodriguez was scratched on Thursday because of a foot bruise. The field for the 2025 Kentucky Derby is now down to 19 horses.
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Grande trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse
Grande trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse Show Caption Hide Caption Watch 2025 Kentucky Derby contender Grande work at Churchill Downs 2025 Kentucky Derby contender Grande works at Churchill Downs on April 27, 2025. Trainer is Todd Pletcher. Career is three starts for 2-1-0. Grande will enter the Kentucky Derby off a second-place finish in the Wood Memorial on April 5 Grande trainer Todd Pletcher has won the Kentucky Derby twice with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) Grande is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2025 Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs. Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September. The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 26. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Grande will enter the Kentucky Derby off a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 5 at Aqueduct. He currently ranks 16th on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 50. Color: Dark Bay. Bred in: Kentucky. Sire: Curlin. Dam: Journey Home, by War Front. Price tag: $300,000 at 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Owner: Repole Stable (Mike Repole). He's 0 for 8 in the Derby, best finish coming with Mo Donegal (fifth) in 2022. Trainer: Todd Pletcher. He's 2 for 65 in the Derby, winning with Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017). No trainer has entered more horses in the Derby than Pletcher. Jockey: John Velazquez. He's 3 for 26 in the Derby, winning with Animal Kingdom (2011), Always Dreaming (2017) and Authentic (2020). Record: 2-1-0 in three starts. Career earnings: $228,200. Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 50 (No. 16). Last race: Second in Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 5 at Aqueduct, 3 ½ lengths behind Rodriguez. Running style: Stalker. Notes: Grande did not race as a 2-year-old and won two starts at Gulfstream Park before his runner-up finish in the Wood Memorial. … Grande will try to become the fifth horse to win the Kentucky Derby after just three career starts, joining Regret (1915), Big Brown (2008), Justify (2018) and Mage (2023). … Repole, Pletcher and Velazquez teamed on the favorite in last year's Derby with Fierceness, who faded to 15th after battling near the lead early. What they're saying: 'I thought he ran super,' Pletcher said after the Wood. 'He didn't break real well. He got shuffled around a little bit going into the first turn. (Jockey Dylan Davis) said he kind of had to check off heels, which forced him to go really wide. He advanced nicely down the backside while out in the middle of the track. He still got hung out pretty wide on the far turn and I think compared to the ground saved that the winner had, it was a very creditable effort.' Last May, NBC Sports announced a partnership with Churchill Downs to present the Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock through 2032. The extension includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Derby and Oaks Day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms. You can stream the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Fubo and Peacock. Post time for the 151st Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@ Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ. More horse racing: Here's how Journalism, likely Kentucky Derby favorite, got his name from a former editor
The Hill
03-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hill
One Kentucky Derby post position has never seen a winner. Chunk of Gold hopes to change that
(NEXSTAR) – In its storied 151-year history, there is an infamous starting gate number that has never produced a Kentucky Derby winner. The gate numbers, known as post positions, are decided by a random drawing. Betting odds shift based on where horses start and how they respond to certain posts, according to with the biggest swings often for No. 1 – which hasn't seen a winner since 1986 – and the outermost positions. While post position 5 has had the best record with 10 winners, the most recent being Always Dreaming in 2017, post position 17 is the only one that hasn't produced a single first-place finish. But could this be the year the curse ends? Sandman, ridden by highly-regarded jockey Jose L. Ortiz, was initially assigned post position 17 with enviable 5-1 odds, according to That changed, however, when two horses, Grande and Rodriguez were scratched late in the week, moving Chunk of Gold, at 30-1, into the 17th position, according to Covers. The 3-year-old gray/roan colt finished second consecutively in the Risen Star and the Louisiana Derby, according to the Derby's profile. 'With his closing running style, proven stamina, and improving form, Chunk of Gold profiles as an interesting longshot candidate for the Kentucky Derby.' The odds-on favorite to win the Derby, Journalism, has 3-1 odds as of Friday afternoon. Journalism will be running from post 7, which has seen eight winners, including Mandaloun in 2021. See the complete number of wins by post position below: Post Record (entries-win-place-show) Win % Avg. Finish Last Winner Last Top 5 1 95-8-5-5 8.4% 8.20 Ferdinand (1986) Hit Show (5th, 2023) 2 95-7-6-13 7.4% 8.13 Affirmed (1978) Sierra Leone (2nd, 2024) 3 95-6-8-8 6.3% 8.19 Mystik Dan (2024) Mystik Dan (1st , 2024) 4 95-5-6-4 5.3% 8.72 Super Saver (2010 Catching Freedom (4th, 2024) 5 95-10-8-4 10.5% 7.45 Always Dreaming (2017) Improbable (4 th, 2019) 6 95-2-8-3 2.1% 9.55 Sea Hero (1993) O Besos (4th, 2021) 7 94-8-6-6 8.5% 7.87 Mandaloun (2021) Mandaloun (1st, 2021) 8 94-9-5-5 9.6% 8.57 Mage (2023) Mage (1 st, 2023) 9 91-4-6-8 4.4% 8.63 Riva Ridge (1972) Disarm (4th, 2023) 10 88-9-6-11 10.2% 7.72 Giacomo (2005) T O Password (JPN) (5th, 2024) 11 84-2-6-4 2.4% 9.06 Winning Colors (1988) Forever Young (JPN) (3rd, 2024) 12 80-3-3-4 3.8% 9.60 Canonero II (1971) Angel of Empire (3rd, 2023) 13 78-5-5-7 6.4% 8.24 Nyquist (2016) Simplification (4 th, 2022) 14 68-2-6-6 2.9% 9.21 Carry Back (1961) Essential Quality (3rd, 2021) 15 63-6-2-1 9.5% 10.22 Authentic (2020) Authentic (1st, 2020) 16 52-4-3-3 7.7% 10.27 Animal Kingdom (2011) Honor A. P. (4th, 2020) 17 45-0-1-2 0.0% 11.24 Don't Get Mad (4th, 2005) 18 37-2-4-0 5.4% 9.43 Country House (2019) Country House (1 st, 2019) 19 31-1-1-0 3.2% 12.32 I'll Have Another (2012) Wicked Strong (4th, 2014) 20 19-2-0-1 10.5% 11.05 Rich Strike (2022) Rich Strike (1st, 2022) While gamblers might tend to shy away from certain posts, not everyone is convinced that 17 is the burden its underwhelming record suggests. Horse racing handicapper Michael Dempsey told NBC that he would actually prefer the 17th post to some of the inner positions, and suspects the miserable win-loss record is just a statistical anomaly. 'I don't really think the outside posts are a disadvantage, even though the statistics tell us otherwise,' Dempsey said. 'If I liked a horse to win a race and then he drew that 17, 18, or 19 post, that wouldn't sway me.'
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Sandman trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse
Sandman trainer, jockey, owner and more to know about 2025 Kentucky Derby horse Show Caption Hide Caption Kentucky Derby 2025 contender Sandman's trainer Mark Casse Trainer Mark Casse says Kentucky Derby 2025 contender Sandman will like the length of the Derby's 1 ¼-mile race. Sandman will enter the Kentucky Derby off a win in the Arkansas Derby on March 29 Sandman raced three times as a 2-year-old at Churchill Downs, finishing third in the Grade 3 Street Sense Sandman is one of 20 horses expected to enter the 2025 Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs. Spots for the Run for the Roses are earned by gaining points through a series of Kentucky Derby prep races that began last September. The post-position draw for the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, April 26. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Sandman will enter the Kentucky Derby off a victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on March 29 at Oaklawn Park. He currently ranks second on the Kentucky Derby points leaderboard with 129. Color: Gray/roan. Bred in: Kentucky. Sire: Tapit. Dam: Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor. Price tag: $1.2 million at 2024 Ocala Breeders' March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. Owners: D.J. Stable (Leonard Green); St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola); West Point Thoroughbreds (Terry Finley); CJ Stables (Charles Sonson). Second Derby for D.J. Stable, which was seventh with Helium in 2021. St. Elias is 1 for 4 in the Derby, winning with Always Dreaming in 2017. West Point is 1 for 7 in the Derby, winning with Always Dreaming in 2017. First Derby for CJ Stables. Trainer: Mark Casse. He's 0 for 10 in the Derby, best finish coming with Classic Empire (fourth) in 2017. Jockey: Jose Ortiz. He's 0 for 9 in the Derby, best finish coming with Good Magic (second) in 2018. Record: 3-1-2 in eight starts. Career earnings: $1,254,595. Road to the Kentucky Derby points: 129 (No. 2). Last race: Won Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on March 29 at Oaklawn Park by 2 ½ lengths over Publisher. Running style: Closer. Notes: Sandman raced three times at Churchill Downs as a 2-year-old, his best finish a third-place showing in the Grade 3 Street Sense on Oct. 27. He has a 1-1-2 record in five career graded stakes. … This will be the first Derby for Casse since 2021, when he finished seventh with Helium and 18th with Soup and Sandwich. … Viola is the owner of the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers and was President Trump's nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Army in 2017 before withdrawing from consideration, citing business conflicts. What they're saying: 'He actually surprised me how quickly he bounced back out of that race,' Casse said of the Arkansas Derby. '(Jockey Jose Ortiz) told me after the race when he pulled him up, 'He didn't take a deep breath.' … Hopefully everything goes well this month up to the Derby. I think you're going to see a better horse in the (Kentucky) Derby than you saw in the Arkansas Derby.' Last May, NBC Sports announced a partnership with Churchill Downs to present the Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock through 2032. The extension includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Derby and Oaks Day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms. You can stream the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Fubo and Peacock. Post time for the 151st Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@ Follow on X @KentuckyDerbyCJ. More Kentucky Derby coverage: Which horses are in or on bubble for May 3 Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs? This story was updated to add a video.
