Hidden Scroll scratched at gate before comeback run

The much-anticipated return of Hidden Scroll here Friday never materialized after he was scratched by the stewards at the gate before an allowance race.

Hidden Scroll, off the board as the favorite in both the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and Grade 1 Florida Derby here last winter, had not started since finishing third in an allowance race at Churchill Downs on May 4. He was scratched Friday when he became fractious and lost his jockey, Jose Ortiz, after being loaded in the gate.

“He got a little bit frisky when he heard the horse loading next to me,” Ortiz said. “He was very sharp in the post parade coming back off the long layoff. He went up in the air and turned his head completely around. He really gave me no shot. I’m just happy he was okay. That’s the main thing.”

Ortiz was aboard Hidden Scroll for the first time when he ran at Churchill, and said he was really looking forward to the opportunity to ride him again on Friday.

“I saw him jogging this morning and he looked fantastic,” Ortiz said. “He grew up a lot since last year. He’s bigger and stronger and I think it was a great race for him to come back in. Bill is a great horseman. He’ll know how to handle him the right way after this and bring him back another day.”

Mott’s assistant Ken McCarthy reported a short while after the incident that Hidden Scroll had suffered only some minor scratches and that he was shipped back to his winter home at Payson Park that night.

Sniper Shot, who became the 1-2 favorite following the scratch of the odds-on Hidden Scroll, overcame a wide trip to register an easy victory returning from a long layoff of his own. John Velazquez was aboard for trainer Todd Pletcher.