Bob Baffert had already lost a potential Kentucky Derby starter in Jaycito to a foot injury, and now that Baffert has elected to take The Factor out of consideration as well; and, now that J P’s Gusto has also been withdrawn by his trainer, this leaves the door open for Shackleford and Twinspired for making the 20-horse Derby field.

The Derby field is limited to 20 starters , and Silver Medallion and Anthony’s Cross are now 21^st and 22^nd in terms of graded earnings, in that order, but Silver Medallion is now no longer under consideration. In order for Anthony’s Cross to get in, one of the top 20 will have to withdraw.

Soldat and Dialed In are still down in Florida. Dialed In had his final Derby work on Thursday, working in company with a stable mate going 4 furlongs in 48.53 seconds at the Palm Meadows training center. His trainer Nick Zito has said that despite the moderate work, it was exactly what he was looking for. Hall of fame jockey Jerry Bailey was one of the onlookers, and said that although he thinks Dialed In might have gotten more out of a slightly longer work, perhaps 5 or 6 furlongs, he thinks it was a nice work.

Soldat galloped 1-1/8 miles at Palm Meadows and will be having his final Derby work on Friday, after which he and Dialed In will head for Louisville on Saturday.

Uncle Mo breezed five furlongs over a sloppy Churchill Downs track on Tuesday, which was his first workout since recovering from a gastrointestinal infection discovered following his third place finish in the Wood Memorial on April 9^th. His trainer Todd Pletcher was pleased with the work, which was completed in a time of 1:01 4/5, and is optimistic that the horse is getting back on track. He will have his final workout on Monday.

It looks like we will have one foreign horse in the race, Master of Hounds, who is trained by Aiden O’Brien and is expected to ship to Kentucky next Tuesday. He was last seen in the $2 million UAE Derby, in which he finished second, losing by a head-bob at the wire.

Three-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey Calvin Borel will get a chance to win his fourth in five years, as he will be the pilot aboard Twice the Appeal, who caused a 25-1 upset in the Sunland Derby. This will be the first time that Borel will ride Twice the Appeal.

Legendary race caller Tom Durkin will not be calling the Kentucky Derby for the first time in 13 years, due to stress-related anxiety. The Triple Crown races this year will be called by Gulfstream Park track announcer Larry Collmus.

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