Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM

Rodriguez, a colt trained by Bob Baffert and entered into Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, was officially scratched from the race late Thursday afternoon.

Tom Ryan, managing partner of SF Racing LLC, made the announcement on X, calling it “a very tough decision” to remove the winner of the Wood Memorial. SF Racing is part of the ownership group for Rodriguez, who was sired by 2020 Derby winner Authentic.

“Out of an abundance of caution, we have made a very tough decision to scratch our Derby horse, Rodriguez,” Smith posted. “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.”

The Preakness is scheduled for May 17 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. It’s the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, following the Derby and preceding the June 7 Belmont Stakes, which will be run at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York this year.

With Rodriguez scratched prior to Friday’s 9 a.m. ET deadline, Baeza will now enter the race. The John Shirreffs-trained colt finished second to Journalism in the April 5 Santa Anita Derby. It was Baeza’s first stakes race and only the fourth in his career.

Journalism is widely expected to be the betting favorite for the Run for the Roses. Some handicappers believe Baeza could contend with Journalism and other top 3-year-olds. Baeza took the lead in the prep race at the top of the stretch before Journalism chased him down before the wire.

Because the Santa Anita Derby only featured five horses, Baeza only received 37.5 qualifying points for finishing second. That is why his connections needed someone to scratch in order to run.

Baeza, the only also-eligible who was entered in the race, will start from the 20th gate. Those entries running to the outside of Rodriguez will now move one position inside. For Journalism, that means he’ll break seventh.

The new entry also means jockey Flavien Prat will switch entries. He was initially scheduled to ride Neoequos. Luis Saez, who rode Dornoch to win the 2024 Belmont Stakes, will now take the mount.

Even with Rodriguez out, Baffert still has a horse in the race. Citizen Bull has four wins in six starts but finished a disappointing fourth in the Santa Anita. Like Rodriguez, Citizen Bull prefers to take the lead early, but that will be difficult for him to accomplish as he drew the inside post.

Baffert has trained six Kentucky Derby winners, a record he shares with Ben Jones. However, he returns to the Derby for the first time in three years. He was barred from Churchill Downs’ tracks for that period after Medina Spirit, who initially won the 2021 Derby, failed a post-race drug test and was subsequently disqualified.

–Field Level Media