The Kentucky Derby is ready to go on Saturday and 139th event will have one less horse at the starting gate, as Black Onyx was a last minute scratch for the event after getting injured on Friday morning, just ahead of the running at Churchill Downs.
According to USA Today, Black Onyx was in the first post and listed as a 50-1 longshot for Saturday's race before getting injured and being scratched from the lineup on Friday. The horse suffered from a bone chip in his front left ankle and trainer Kelly Breen said that was it for the horse. Fear the Kitten, who was ranked in 21st, will not be able to move into the race, as the event will stick with its 19 contestants.
The scratch was past the deadline to add another horse as an alternate, meaning that the first post will be empty on Saturday and could give an advantage to third post sitter Calvin "Borail" Borel, who used the rail to win the event in 2009. Breen said there is a chance that the horse will need surgery, but so far nothing is definite.
The trainers took x-rays after noticing some swelling and the injury was found around 10 am, too late for the deadline.
"I've been saying it the whole week how tough it is to get here. My family came in at midnight last night. We were all gung ho," said Breen.