When Buddha, the Wood Memorial winner and 5-1 in the Kentucky Derby morning line, was withdrawn because of a bruised foot early Friday morning, it marked perhaps the most high-profile scratch here in a decade.
The colt’s absence reduced the Derby field to 19 and also threatened to leave Hall of Fame jockey Pat Daywithout a mount.
But Day, who has a streak of 18 consecutive Derby mounts, picked up another ride when Corey Nakatani suffered a concussion in a spill at Hollywood Park on Thursday. Doctors advised Nakatani, who had been slated to ride Blue Burner, not to ride because he was still experiencing dizziness.
“I did not want somebody to get taken off in order to allow me the opportunity to ride,” Day said. “But if Corey’s not up to riding, I’m tickled pink to have the opportunity.”
Blue Burner’s trainer, Bill Mott, called the decision “a no-brainer.”
Buddha will have a bone scan early next week to confirm that he has a soft-tissue injury rather than a fracture. Depending on the result of that test, the horse could resume training in time for the May 18 Preakness Stakes.
“He sensed what was going on,” Day said. “He had his head down like `I’m really sorry.'”
Post scramble: Although the 19 Derby entries will wear the numbers they were originally assigned, they will start from different gates. Johannesburg, who drew the inside position, will move over to the second slot and the rest of the field will fill in the positions up to No. 20.
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