LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Forbidden Kingdom, who was the co-No. 3 choice of bettors in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager and entered last Saturday's Santa Anita Derby as the even-money favorite, is off the Derby trail, according to trainer Richard Mandella.
Forbidden Kingdom finished last Saturday, and a subsequent review turned up a potential epiglottis issue that the trainer wants to have treated completely before the colt returns to the track.
Joe Moran, the west coast racing manager of MyRacehorse — the syndicate that owns Forbidden Kingdom along with Spendthrift Farm 3 told Blood Horse magazine Sunday, "Trainer Richard Mandella has taken him off the Derby He's going to get the epiglottis further inspected to just confirm the issue and what we're exactly dealing with."
Mandella told Thoroughbred Daily News: "We are going to look under his epiglottis to see if he has an ulcer. But no Derby for sure.”
Forbidden Kingdom, who was sired by American Pharoah out of the dam Just Louise, was set to become the first colt by the 2015 Triple Crown winner to reach the Kentucky Derby.
It's more hard Derby luck for Mandella, the Hall of Famer who had the Derby favorite in Omaha Beach in 2019 but was scratched the morning of the Derby draw with an entrapped epiglottis.
Forbidden Kingdom stamped himself as a Derby contender with a win in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita. He was No. 15 on the Derby leaderboard heading into the Santa Anita Derby. Prior to his San Felipe win, he had beaten top Derby contender Pinehurst in the Grade 3 San Vicente Stakes.
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