Louisiana Derby (gr. II) winner International Star and Gotham Stakes (gr. III) winner El Kabeir have both been scratched from the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), leaving a field of eighteen horses to contest the 141st renewal of the Run for the Roses.
El Kabeir, owned by Zayat Stables and trained by John Terranova II, was scratched yesterday afternoon with a foot abscess. International Star, owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trained by Mike Maker, was scratched early this morning with a sore foot that has been diagnosed as a quarter crack.
The scratches of El Kabeir and International Star followed the earlier announced that Stanford would be scratched for the Derby to await a different race, with the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) and Peter Pan Stakes (gr. II) being possible options.
As a result of the scratches, the assigned post positions for many of the Derby starters have been modified, as posts 1 and 20 will be left empty so that no horse will have the disadvantage of starting from the extreme outside gate positions. The updated post positions for the Derby are as follow:
1 Empty
2 Ocho Ocho Ocho
3 Carpe Diem
4 Materiality
5 Tencendur
6 Danzig Moon
7 Mubtaahij
8 Dortmund
9 Bolo
10 Firing Line
11 Itsaknockout
12 Keen Ice
13 Frosted
14 War Story
15 Mr. Z
16 American Pharoah
17 Upstart
18 Far Right
19 Frammento
20 Empty
Please note that the program numbers for the Derby have not changed, and the above numbers should not be used for wagering purposes.
