Bad Foot Knocks Hoppertunity from Kentucky Derby

Trainer Bob Baffert believes Hoppertunity has a bruised foot but he wants to make 100% sure that is the only issue.
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An injured left front foot will keep Hoppertunity from competing in this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, taking place Saturday (May 3) at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Trainer Bob Baffert announced at about 9 a.m. today (May 1) that the and 6-1 second-choice on the Derby morning-line would be scratched. Baffert said he believes Hoppertunity has a bruised foot but he wants to make 100% sure that is the only issue.

"We're pretty sure it's the foot but we just want to make sure that it's nothing else, so we can continue on with him for the Preakness (Stakes)," Baffert said. "The timing is obviously horrible because we don't have enough time to work on the foot.

"Yesterday when he came out, he took a couple of steps that looked like something was bothering him," Baffert said. "So we took a hoof tester and we saw his inside quarter was sore. We cut part of the shoe off. This was after he trained. I schooled him in the afternoon and after that we had the vet look at him. We jogged him up and down the pavement and he was fine. I jog all my horses in the morning. When we brought him out this morning he was still a little bit off on that left front foot

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Frank Angst is a staff writer for The Blood-Horse magazine. An American Horse Publications three-time winner in best news story category, Angst has covered horse racing for more than a decade. Angst spent ten years at Thoroughbred Times, where he earned awards as that magazine’s senior writer and helped launch Thoroughbred Times TODAY. Besides covering horse racing, Angst enjoys handicapping. Angst has written about sports for more than 20 years, including several seasons covering a nationally ranked Marshall Thundering Herd football team.

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