Morello Out of Kentucky Derby, Pioneer of Medina Likely

A foot issue has knocked grade 3 winner Morello  from consideration for this year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) May 7 at Churchill Downs.

Morello most recently finished sixth as the 9-5 favorite in the April 9 Wood Memorial Stakes Presented by Resorts World Casino (G2) at Aqueduct and he has not worked since that effort. Trainer Steve Asmussen said Sunday at Churchill that Morello had been removed from Derby consideration.

"We're going to back off of him," Asmussen said. "It's just that the foot isn't 100%. He blew the shoe in the Wood. I spoke with the partners and we're just going to do what's right by him and try to get some healthy foot grown out on him. He's too good of a horse to not do everything you can for him."

Campaigned by Blue Lion Thoroughbreds, Craig Taylor, and Diamond T Racing, Morello qualified for the Derby with a 4 1/2-length score in the March 5 Gotham Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct. That effort marked the son of Classic Empire  's third win in as many starts—all at Aqueduct—after a debut maiden win in November and a score in the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes in February.

Morello had ranked 15th on the Road to the Kentucky Derby points list, which is used to determine the field that is limited to 20 horses. With Morello's departure, grade 2-placed Pioneer of Medina  moves into the 20th spot. Todd Pletcher said Sunday morning that they will make a final decision after Pioneer of Medina breezes April 25 at Churchill but they are leaning toward joining the Derby field.

"(We) need to see the breeze tomorrow, but … he had a good gallop this morning," Pletcher said. "(He) seems to be in good shape."

Campaigned by Sumaya U.S. Stable, Pioneer of Medina earned his 25 Road to the Kentucky Derby points this winter and spring at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. He most recently finished third in the TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) April 2 after finishing fourth in the Risen Star Stakes presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) in February.

"He's a horse that's always trained well. He's improved kind of in each race," Pletcher said. "You know I think the Fair Grounds form's holding up pretty strongly, and he was competitive in those races. So he needs to move forward again, but you know we like what we've been seeing."

Pioneer of Medina is a son of Pioneerof the Nile , who is the sire of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah  . Bred in Kentucky by International Equities Holding, Pioneer of Medina is the first foal out of the grade 2-placed stakes winner Lights of Medina by Eskendereya .

While until Sunday Pioneer of Medina had been on the wrong side of the Derby bubble, Pletcher said the connections did not consider a run in the final points race on this year's schedule, the April 16 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G2) at Keeneland, because the timing of the Lexington relative to the Derby wouldn't have been ideal.

"We felt like, if we get in, we get in. If we don't then it wasn't meant to be," Pletcher said. "If we're going to run, we want to do it the right way and take our best shot at it. We were willing to roll the dice and if he didn't have enough points then we'd move on to something else."