LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The closer the field surged toward the finish line for the 149th Kentucky Oaks, the firmer Todd Pletcher gripped the rail.

Gambling Girl, a filly trained by Pletcher, ran wide into the Churchill Downs stretch. Then she did exactly what Pletcher trained her to do: run past every horse in her way.

Tenth with three-eighths of a mile to run, Gambling Girl was fourth before you could grab your binoculars. She passed horses that were slowing and horses that were running faster, including the Oaks' favorite, Wet Paint.

She got past Dorth Vader. The Alys Look was next.

The final horse to chase was Pretty Mischievous. Gambling Girl was barely a half-length behind when she ran past her trainer.

At this point, Pletcher gripped the rail with both hands. He bent forward, appearing ready to jump over it to exhort Gambling Girl and jockey Irad Ortiz for the final strides

"I would have tackled him," said Mike Repole, who was watching from behind his trainer.

Who is Repole?

He owns the filly, just as Repole is one of the owners of Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite trained by Pletcher. A year ago, Nest, another Pletcher & Repole filly, finished second in the Oaks.

Gambling Girl kept running as if she was ready to take flight. Trouble is so did Pretty Mischievous. The wire came too quickly for Gambling Girl. She finished a neck behind. Over a mile-and-an-eighth she was maybe 18 inches short of glory.

"It's a very fair and deserving second," Repole said. "But it stinks."

Welcome to Horse Racing 101. You get this close to the thrill of a lifetime and then second place feels like 22nd place. Then you have less than 24 hours to regroup for another race that means even more than the one you just lost.

Tomorrow you can be the toast of the town, Mike.

"I've got tonight first," Repole said. "I've got to get through tonight first. I've been getting 2 1/2 hours sleep. I don't know if that's called sleep or a nap. I'm not sure ...

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"This is why you get into racing, it's days like this, it's races like this. Wins are extremely special. Being in them is extremely special ... you're supposed to be really happy when your horse runs like that. And I will in 20 or 30 years."

For Pletcher, this one appeared to sting him, too. After talking to Ortiz and making a brief statement to the media, Pletcher walked briskly to his barn.

Pletcher's post-race analysis was 22 crisp words: "She had a really good trip. (Ortiz) save ground most of the way, angled out and she put in a great run."

Derby Fever is a powerful thing. Pletcher trains Forte as well as Tapit Trice and Kingsbarns, two other legitimate Derby contenders. They will be Pletcher's 63rd, 64th and 65th Derby starters as he chases his third win in the first leg of the Triple Crown.

This has been a strange, emotional and contentious build-up to the race. Four horses have scratched out of the 20-horse field, which is the most scratched at the Derby since 2015.

Trainers for two of the horses (Skinner and Practical Move) both said they pulled their colts because of fevers. Both came from California. Continuar, a Japanese horse, was not training well.

The fourth horse, Lord Miles, was taken out of the race by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission and Churchill Downs. Two horses in the barn of the colt's trainer, Saffie Joseph Jr., died unexpectedly after racing at Churchill this week.

Considering two of the last three Derby winners were disqualified and Derby superstar trainer Bob Baffert is finishing out a two-year suspension for a medication violation, the last thing racing needed to dominate the headlines this week was another prolonged discussion about dead horses and doping.

The situation got more unsettling Thursday. The barn area at a race track percolates with gossip. The topic on many minds two days before the race was that Forte was not thriving.

Did not look the way a Derby favorite is supposed to look on the track Thursday morning.

Pletcher and Repole said Forte was fine. Forte will race. Forte went to the track Friday morning. The chatter subsided.

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"As good as any other horse in here," Repole said. "He's going to gallop (Saturday) at 7:45 (a.m.) He's doing great. He looks good.

"You know this has been a very interesting week. A very weird week. There were 23 (horses) on the AEs (also eligible for the Derby list).

"Who knows? Tomorrow's field might be 12. You know I think they're being very cautious, which is very smart.

"I don't think it's overly cautious. I think it's smart. Tomorrow they'll go around and check everybody like they did today."

Then the trainers and owners will grip the rail with both hands and hope for the best again.

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