Forte Scratched from 2023 Kentucky Derby With Foot Injury; Was Betting Favorite

The 149th running of the Kentucky Derby is set to take place on Saturday evening, but some heartbreaking news arrived just hours before the race with the revelation that Forte, the race favorite, had been scratched from the Run for the Roses.

Forte is the fifth horse to be scratched from this year's race at Churchill Downs, joining Skinner, Practical Move, Lord Miles and Continuar. The Todd Pletcher-trained dark bay colt had 4-1 odds to win.

The decision to scratch Forte came after a Saturday morning workout, according to ESPN. Pletcher and owner Mike Repole were seen meeting with state racing commission veterinarian Nick Smith following that workout.

Smith failed to comment when asked by reporters why Forte had been scratched. However, Repole said veterinarians expressed concern about the horse's bruised right foot.

"I'm devastated for Todd. I'm devastated for this team that gets up every day," Repole said while meeting with reporters, per SportsCenter. "You guys see this one week. This is 365 days a year."

Rumors of Forte's status for the Kentucky Derby arose after video surfaced of him stumbling during a workout on Thursday, according to Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier Journal. However, Pletcher insisted Friday that the horse was good to go for the race.

"It's not something you see very often," Pletcher said. "He just kind of took a little bit of a bobble step and recovered right away. As you could see this morning, he was out there changing leads at every spot beautifully and getting over the ground well. That (bobble) was a one off. I don't know what that was about, to be honest."

It's unclear if Forte's stumble during Thursday's gallop had anything to do with his bruised foot and scratch from the race.

Entering the Kentucky Derby, Forte had won his last five races dating back to the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in September 2022. The colt had posted two first-place finishes in two races in 2023 and six first-place finishes in seven races overall.

Forte's most recent victory came in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida, on April 1.

Forte's jockey, Irad Ortiz Jr., was aiming to win his first Kentucky Derby this year after being a two-time winner of the Belmont Stakes and winning the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in four of the last five years.

This year's Run for the Roses was viewed as Ortiz's best shot at winning the first jewel of the Triple Crown, but now he'll have to wait another year for a chance to win the coveted title following Forte's scratch.

While Forte won't run this year's race, Pletcher still has two horses competing in Tapit Trice and Kingsbarns.

Tapit Trice, jockeyed by Luis Saez, had been considered one of the favorites for the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby after winning four straight races dating back to the Maiden Special Weight at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, New York, in December 2022.

Tapit Trice is also coming off an impressive win in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, on April 8.

Saez jockeyed Maximum Security to a first-place finish in the 2019 Kentucky Derby. However, he was disqualified for interfering with three other horses.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission found that Saez failed "to control his mount and make the proper effort to maintain a straight course thereby causing interference with several rivals" and suspended him for 15 racing days.

Kingsbarns, while not a favorite, still has 10-1 odds to win. Jockeyed by Jose L. Ortiz, he has won each of his three career races dating back to the Maiden Special Weight at Gulfstream Park in January 2023 and is coming off a win in the Louisiana Derby on March 25.

Brad Cox's Angel Of Empire is now the favorite to win this year's Kentucky Derby at 9-2. Tapit Trice also has 9-2 odds.