Horse Racing: Likely Kentucky Derby favorite Eskendereya will miss race

As a replay of Eskendereya’s victory in the Wood Memorial played on the big screen at the National Museum of Horse Racing and Hall of Fame’s Countdown to the Triple Crown program in Saratoga Springs on Sunday afternoon, a woman in the audience dropped her head into her hands. Several others in the room were shaking their heads.

The message was clear: Sheer disappointment that the most visually impressive colt of the spring won’t get a chance to strut his stuff in the biggest race of his young life.


Trainer Todd Pletcher announced Sunday morning that Eskendereya was ruled out of consideration for the Kentucky Derby, just six days away, due to filling in his left front leg from his ankle up to his knee.

The big chestnut would have been the favorite in the Run for the Roses off dominant victories in the Fountain of Youth and Wood Memorial.

“He has a filling in his left front leg — from his ankle to his knee — and he will not be running,” the trainer said in a release. “I spoke to (owner Ahmed Zayat) this morning and told him the bad news. The horse isn’t lame; I wouldn’t call it that. He’s slightly off. His last couple of gallops have not been

up to par. We’re hopeful that this is not career threatening. We’ll do further diagnostics and see. He’s not uncomfortable. We jogged him early this morning and he just appeared to be slightly off. We knew then that we couldn’t go forward.”