DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Blues And Royals will miss the Kentucky Derby because of a respiratory condition, a setback for the famed Godolphin stable.
The colt won the UAE Derby by 12 lengths in his only start this year.
Simon Crisford, Godolphin’s racing manager, said the low-grade condition will prevent the colt from running May 7 in the first leg of the Triple Crown.
“He seemed to have the right credentials for the race, but it is just one of those things,” Crisford said on Godolphin’s Web site Monday. “The horse’s welfare has to come first and it just would not be possible for us to get him ready.”
Blues And Royals will be shipped to Belmont Park in New York this month, along with a small contingent of other horses from the stable, with plans to run later in the season in the United States.
The first of three pools of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager begins its three-day run on Friday and the bet's opening scenario is very similar to each of its opening pools since the wager was created in 1999.
It's first time that Classic will be broadcast in primetime on Nov. 3.
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