Un Ojo On Target for Kentucky Derby After Rough Trip

The one-eyed New York State-bred gelding Un Ojo  came out of a tumultuous eighth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (G1) with some shoulder scrapes and stiffness but remains on course for a start in the May 7 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Trainer Ricky Courville said April 5 that the son of Laoban needed some surgical staples in his left shoulder blade after hitting the rail April 2 during the $1 million stakes at Oaklawn Park, and will be walked the rest of this week as he recovers from the rough trip.

Owned by Cypress Creek Equine and Whispering Oaks Farm, Un Ojo is currently 10th on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard with 54 points after winning the Rebel Stakes (G2) at 75-1 odds and collecting 50 of those qualifying points.

"He was sawed-off and bounced off the fence twice. He's had some stiffness and we'll give him some time to get over it," Courville said. "We're still going to the Kentucky Derby so far. He had a legitimate excuse Saturday. He and (runner-up Barber Road) were making their moves together so he might have been right there with a clean trip."

Though Courville said Barber Road  put Un Ojo in a tight spot, he believes the problem was caused by the victorious Cyberknife  when he moved up and joined the leaders on the backstretch.

"The winner caused it all. He came across the track and went for a hole between two horses and pushed us down on the fence and Barber Road on top of us," he said. "From there, Barber Road kept laying on top of us and when they hit the turn there was no room."

Courville said that jockey Ramon Vazquez told him that Un Ojo, who lost his left eye as a yearling, tried to jump the rail on the final turn when he was squeezed.

"He kept hitting the rail and Ramon had to check him out of there and he said the horse panicked and tried to jump the fence," Courville said. "It was pretty bad. I was surprised there was no inquiry. Guess no one saw it or cared about it. It was a roughly run race."

Courville said he will monitor how Un Ojo recovers from the stiffness before deciding when to begin a series of workouts in advance of the Kentucky Derby.

"I'll let him tell me when we work him," Courville said. "I'm going to walk him for a week to give him time to get over this. Today was probably his worst day in terms of the stiffness but he's a gutsy little horse."

Out of the A.P. Indy mare Risk a Chance, Un Ojo was bred by Southern Equine Stables and has two wins in seven starts with earnings of $782,571.