Uncle Mo, which had been the second favourite among Kentucky Derby oddsmakers, was scratched on Friday from the lineup for Saturday’s race because of an intestinal disorder.
Mike Repole, the colt’s owner, announced the decision less than an hour before wagering began. His decision trimmed the field for the 137th running of the US dirt oval classic to 19 horses with Dialed In the early 4-1 favourite.
Uncle Mo, trained by Todd Pletcher, was set with 9-2 odds. While Repole and Pletcher still have a horse in the race with 20-1 longshot Stay Thirsty, Uncle Mo has been seen as a top Derby contender for nearly a year.
“Honestly, I’ve never had a horse as good as Uncle Mo,” Pletcher said. “To not make it here is a big letdown. I take it as a personal failure.”
Pletcher collected his first Derby victory last year with a longshot in Super Saver.
The most worrisome thing for Repole and Pletcher has been that veterinarians are not exactly sure why the colt has lost weight, eaten little and shown elevated enzyme levels in blood tests.
“They’re baffled. That’s what gets us nervous the most,” Repole said.
The 1 1/4-mile race at famed Churchill Downs is the first leg of the American horse racing Triple Crown, which continues with the Preakness and concludes with next month’s Belmont Stakes.
No horse has swept the treble since Affirmed in 1978.
Uncle Mo’s medical woes began after he finished third in last month’s Wood Memorial, a race he was favoured to win. Medication helped Uncle Mo continue pre-Derby workouts and the horse appeared solid a week ago, Pletcher said.
But Uncle Mo’s listlessness off the track caused concern. Three vets studied the horse Thursday and none said the colt could not run, but Pletcher told Repole after they departed that he did not want Uncle Mo to go on Saturday.
“We’ve got something going on inside that I don’t know what it is. The best vets in the world don’t know what it is,” Pletcher said.
Pletcher defended the decision to enter the horse on Wednesday, which meant that Sway Away could not claim a spot in a field limited to 20. Sway Away would not be eligible to enter the field late because of Uncle Mo’s withdrawal.
“We weren’t trying to prevent someone else from entering. We needed every minute to try to figure this out,” Pletcher said. “We ran out of time.”
Nick Zito, Dialed In’s trainer, said he was not pleased to see his horse’s top rival pull out.
“We all would have liked to see him run,” Zito said. “It’s devastating.”
John Velazquez, who has never won a Kentucky Derby in 12 starts, was to have ridden Uncle Mo but will now serve as the jockey on Animal Kingdom in place of Robby Albarado, who broke his nose in a fall earlier in the week.
The scratching is among the biggest late pullouts in Derby history. Two years ago, favoured I Want Revenge was scratched on race morning with a leg injury that prevented him from racing again.
AFP gjw
