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 on Friday. The horse was slated to start in the ninth post and was a 20-1 favorite 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," <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="https://x.com/RepoleStable/status/1918287441863278761">Repole posted on X</a> 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.
