LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Great White is doing well after flipping before the Kentucky Derby, throwing his jockey and getting scratched minutes before the Triple Crown race, trainer John Ennis said.
“He’s perfect,” Ennis told The Associated Press after the race, which was won by Golden Tempo to make Cherie DeVaux the first female trainer with a Derby champion. “Very fresh. (The incident) took nothing out of him.”
The big gray gelding who weighs roughly 1,370 pounds was spooked by something while he and the other horses were waiting to get walked into the starting gate for the opening race of the Triple Crown. He threw off rider Alex Achard, who walked away under his own power.
The track veterinarians scratched Great White and prevented Achard and Ennis from entering the Derby for the first time. Ennis confirmed Achard was also doing well afterward.
Great White flipping caused a delay to the race, which was supposed to start just after 7 p.m. Because of how long it took, horses who had been loaded into the gate had to be backed out.
Golden Tempo had not yet gone in.
“When you load into the gate, you don’t want to back up,” jockey Jose Ortiz said. “I wasn’t in there yet, so I was very happy. My guy wanted to put me in. (I said): “No, no, no. He’s going to be scratched. Don’t put me in.”
Ortiz, who passed brother Irad aboard Renegade to win the race by a neck, did not think the situation made much of an impact on the race. But he knew Golden Tempo was ready.
“Seems like a pretty clean break,” Ortiz said. “I didn’t want to be loaded and back off. I would hate that. I think the horse is ready. His mind is ready to go. When you put him in, he knows he’s going forward. As soon as you back him up, then everything changes.”
Great White only got into the field Wednesday after Silent Tactic was ruled out because of a foot injury.
