Brigadier General to scratch from Ohio Derby, point to Indiana Derby
Brigadier General will be scratched from Saturday's Grade 3, $500,000 Ohio Derby and will instead target the Grade 3, $300,000 Indiana Derby on July 9, trainer Dallas Stewart said Thursday night.
Stewart added in a text message that the colt was "fine."
The scratch of Brigadier General, who has shown improved speed in three starts since adding blinkers, will reduce the field for the Ohio Derby to seven. The favorites on the morning line are Kentucky Derby also-rans Tawny Port, at 3-1, and White Abarrio, at 7-2.
Brigadier General, a Street Sense colt owned by West Point Thoroughbreds, has won once from eight career starts, that coming in a 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight in April at Keeneland. Most recently, he was fourth against older horses in a 1 3/16-mile allowance race May 12 at Churchill Downs.
Off that effort, he was briefly considered for the Belmont Stakes, but that plan was nixed in favor of an easier start in stakes competition.
“Not by a longshot, but it’s just a touch too much for him right now," owner Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds said at the time. "We’ll bring him to Saratoga this summer.”