BOZICH | Hang an asterisk as Mage wins Forte's Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — This Kentucky Derby ended just after 7 Saturday evening with Mage the first horse across the finish line.

I will forevermore argue that Derby 149 was actually won at 9 Saturday morning.

That was the moment that Dr. Nick Smith, the chief veterinarian of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, ruled that Forte, the Derby favorite, was not cleared to run in the first leg of the Triple Crown.

After a week when five horses died at Churchill Downs and two more were euthanized at the track Saturday, Forte lost his one shot at the Derby because of a bruise to his right front foot.

Was it the state wisely protecting an injured horse or was it an overreaction to a week of tragic accidents and horrible publicity that continue to batter the sport?

Choose your side. Make your case. This argument will be more fun than the race.

“It was a bruise,” said Mike Repole, one of Forte’s owners, said.

“If this race was on Tuesday, I think he'd be running. If this race was next Saturday, he'd be running, but unfortunately, as I've said before in some of these interviews, you can only be a three-year-old colt on the first Saturday in May one time.”

This all unfolded in front of several dozen observers after the sun rose over the track Saturday morning, not in front of 150,335 celebrating fans who stuffed the facility later in the day. After an unprecedented and contentious hour of observation and discussion at Barn 39, Dr. Smith told Repole and trainer Todd Pletcher that in his view the colt was “a tick off in his right front leg.”

Repole did not agree. He said that Pletcher did not agree. He said that three prominent Derby veterinarians that he summoned to his barn did not agree. Yes, the colt suffered a minor bruise while training Wednesday morning. He did agree on that.

But he did not agree that the injury should keep Forte, the 2-year-old champion, from racing for his sixth straight win.

“We got outvoted 1-to-5,” said Repole, who needed 10 minutes to compose himself before he talked about the decision.

At least Repole talked. Nobody from the Kentucky State Racing Commission did. Transparency is apparently not their forte — at least with Forte.

The sting escalated after the Derby was run.

Let the record show that Mage took advantage of the usual sizzling early Derby fractions to run down 13 horses in the final half mile. He held off Two Phil’s by a length to win Kentucky Derby 149.

Go ahead and hang the asterisk. I am.

Mage came to the Derby after winning one race in three starts at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale, Florida, this year. The first was an $84,000 maiden. Nothing special.

The second was the Grade II Fountain of Youth, a prominent Derby prep. The third was the Grade I Florida Derby. The record shows that 21 Florida Derby winners have won the roses on the first Saturday in May in Louisville, including Orb (2013), Nyquist (2016) and Always Dreaming (2017) in the last decade. It remains a reasonable predictor of Derby greatness.

Mage finished fourth in the Fountain of Youth, beaten by nearly 7 lengths.

Mage finished second in the Florida Derby, beaten by a length.

Guess who won both races? Guess who wanted to run Saturday? Guess who has reason to howl from here to Pimlico?

Forte, Repole and Pletcher, that’s who.

Pletcher had nothing to say about it after the Derby. He started two other horses — Kingsbarns (who finished 14th) and Tapit Trice (who was seventh).

“Kingsbarns went awfully fast early,” Pletcher said. “Tapit Trice got too far back.”

And Forte?

Well, he was denied a chance to run without a public explanation from by Dr. Smith and the Kentucky State Horse Racing Commission. Dr. Smith declined to answer any questions from the media after talking to Repole and Pletcher.

“He’s not going to talk to you,” Repole said.

And he was correct.

“Whether you develop a fever or you bruise your foot, I will say we had three of the best vets look at him,” Repole said. (Dr. Larry) Bramlage looked at the x-rays. Fine. Was on the phone with both Todd and I. Dr. (Steve) Allday left here saying, 'he'll be fine, Mike, he's gonna run.' And Dr. Johnson, he left here yesterday and said, 'he'll be fine.' 

"I think the vets are being overly-cautious, and I understand that. The safety of the horse is the most important thing. I'm more concerned about the systems that we have than scratching this horse under these bright lights."

Even the official statement from Churchill Downs did not include any explanation beyond saying that Repole said “the state veterinarians had concerns about a bruised right front foot.”

That’s not a great way to run the most prestigious horse race in the world. Not after there was more than an hour of drama around Barn 39 Saturday morning.

After his filly Gambling Girl ran second in the Kentucky Oaks Friday, Repole said that Forte would go to the track and gallop Saturday morning at 7:45, an unusual move for any Derby horse, especially the favorite.

Pletcher trained his binoculars on his colt after he walked onto the track at the middle of the backstretch. He jogged around the oval twice.

The colt was led back to the barn for a bath. He walked around the shed row during his cooldown. That’s when Repole and the veterinarians showed up.

Led by his groom, the colt was brought to the asphalt road between Barn 39 and Longfield Avenue. He trotted about 40 yards toward the West and then turned around and trotted back.

MAGE wins the Kentucky Derby. Great story. Crazy week, and the skies have opened on a crowd of 150,335 as it departs pic.twitter.com/8HtRt1ho48

— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) May 7, 2023

Do it again.

So Forte did.

Dr. Smith huddled with Repole and Pletcher in the southeast corner of the barn. It appeared that Repole was given the news that his Derby favorite would not be cleared to run. It also appeared that Repole made his case to reverse the decision.

The best Repole could do was convince Dr. Smith to watch the colt trot again. This time Pletcher chose a different path, on the patch of asphalt on west side of the barn. Forte only went down and back once this time. 

As Repole and Pletcher waited 20 yards away, Dr. Smith and several other vets huddled for one final discussion.

Dr. Smith came over and delivered his decision. Pletcher quickly walked away and quietly said, “No,” when a member of the Churchill Downs notes team asked him if Forte would run in the Kentucky Derby.

That was that. No Kentucky Derby for Forte. No Forte for Mage to contend with.

And no question that racing fans hope that Forte and Mage are able to contend with each other at the Preakness or Belmont Stakes. Racing fans deserve to know if the best horse actually won the Kentucky Derby -- or if the asterisk should stay.

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