LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Grande has been scratched from the Kentucky Derby, reducing the field for Saturday’s 151st edition to 19 horses.
He joins Rodriguez on the sideline after that colt was scratched Thursday.
“Unfortunately, the vets have decided to scratch Grande,” owner Mike Repole posted Friday on X. “He has been battling a slight cracked heel this week which has been improving.”
Repole said various diagnostic tests on Grande came back clean, including a PET scan requested by Kentucky state veterinarians. He said the 3-year-old colt had been “training and looking great” on the track all week.
“We were very confused with all the clean diagnostics and improvement all week, why they rushed to judgment to scratch today,” Repole wrote. “We are also shocked and confused why this decision was made now. We were given no real explanation why Grande was scratched 36 hours before the race.”
Repole has had this happen twice before. In 2011, Uncle Mo was scratched the day before the race because of a gastrointestinal infection. In 2023, Forte was scratched the morning of the race due to a bruised right front foot. The self-made billionaire from New York is 0-for-8 in the Derby.
“We all love these horses and our number one concern is the safety and welfare of these amazing Thoroughbreds. That is, and should always be the priority,” Repole wrote. “With all the diagnostics we have taken, the great vets we use, and the experience of Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, we are baffled and confused by what criteria vets are using to determine who scratches, who doesn’t and when…especially when every diagnostic tells us the horse is safe and sound.”
Rodriguez’s scratch moved Baeza into the field. He was the only horse on the also-eligible list, so there will be no replacement for Grande.
Grande was the lone runner for two-time Derby-winning trainer Pletcher and was to be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez.
Respiratory infection played role in death of Celebre d’Allen
LONDON — A severe respiratory infection is likely to have contributed to the death of Grand National runner Celebre d’Allen, according to the findings of the postmortem released Thursday.
The postmortem also acknowledged that the 13-year-old horse’s immune system was “severely compromised” after running the grueling jumps race Saturday.
Celebre d’Allen, a 125-1 shot for the National, was pulled up by jockey Micheal Nolan after the last of the 30 fences. The horse then collapsed on the racecourse.
After receiving treatment on the course, he walked into the horse ambulance and was taken to the racecourse stables for further assessment. Although his owners were positive regarding his recovery on Sunday, his condition deteriorated and heĀ died on Monday.
Celebre d’Allen was sent for a postmortem, which found that the bacterial infection — pleuropneumonia — developed after the race and led to the horse’s deterioration. The subsequent onset of sepsis or endotoxaemia — described as the release of harmful substances into the bloodstream from bacteria — is “likely to have been a key factor in the cause of death,” said the British Horseracing Authority, which said it was granted permission by Celebre d’Allen’s trainer and owner to publish the key findings.
The “exercise-associated episode” experienced by the horse after the race had concluded by the time of his death, according to the post-mortem, the BHA said.
“Further bloods taken on the Monday indicated a severely compromised immune system,” the BHA added. “These indications had not been present in the bloods taken on the day of the race. This indicates that this issue emerged subsequent to the race and the exercise-associated episode.”
Raceday stewards suspended Nolan for 10 days after concluding he “had continued in the race when the horse appeared to have no more to give and was clearly losing ground after the second-last fence.”
Iain Green, director of animal-welfare activist Animal Aid, described the length of the suspension as “pitiful.”
The Grand National has long been regarded as one of the most dangerous horse races in the world because of the size of the fences. A number of new measures — including reducing the field from 40 to 34 runners and bringing forward the race’s start time — were introduced last year in an attempt to make it safer.