McKinzie to Miss Santa Anita Derby

Grade 1 winner McKinzie will miss the April 7 Santa Anita Derby (G1), trainer Bob Baffert said March 31 in Dubai.

Baffert said the Street Sense  colt, who last out edged Bolt d'Oro in the March 10 San Felipe Stakes (G2) but was disqualified to second for interference in late stretch, has an issue in one of his hind legs, but X-rays and scans haven't provided definitive answers.

"There was an issue, and then he was fine the next day—he was sound. ... He's not going to make the Santa Anita Derby. He's definitely out," the Hall of Fame trainer said.



Entering the weekend, McKinzie ranked 10th on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 40 points for owners Karl Watson, Michael Pegram, and Paul Weitman. He won the Dec. 9 Los Alamitos CashCall Futurity (G1) off an October maiden win at first asking, then doubled back to take the Jan. 6 Sham Stakes (G3) before his San Felipe run.

"The McKinzie thing, we don't know. The X-rays were clean, but we don't know if he did it in his stall," Baffert said of the hind-leg issue. "A couple of days ago it came up. They noticed it—just a little bit. He didn't go to the track, we thought it was a foot. ... We X-rayed him, we (nuclear) scanned him, and there was something that came high on the (nuclear) scan. But when he came back, he 100% jogged fine. I don't know what it was, but we're being very cautious."