INDIANTOWN, Fla. - Trainer Chad Brown may have lost his best chance to win his first Kentucky Derby, but he doesn’t believe he lost his only chance.  On the morning after he suffered a gut punch on the Triple Crown trail with the news that leading Kentucky Derby contender Paladin is sidelined through the summer due to a right front ankle fracture, Brown noted that he still has two other contenders for the May 2 Kentucky Derby. One is Emerging Market, the winner of the March 21 Louisiana Derby. The other is Iron Honor, winner of the Grade 3 Gotham on Feb. 28 who was one of 13 horses entered Sunday for Saturday’s Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.  “This could have been worse, he could have been my only horse,” Brown said Sunday morning while sitting in his office at the Payson Park training center. “I have two other horses that have chances in the race. They belong in the field, they’re fast horses on numbers and they’re two undefeated horses. I’m very fortunate that I still have two other horses.”  Brown added that he felt worse for the owners of Paladin, the Coolmore connections that included Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier, Derrick Smith, as well as Peter Brant, Brook T. Smith and Jane Lyon.  :: DRF Road to the Derby Package Available Now! Save 37% on key handicapping essentials through Kentucky Derby day. “I feel bad for the connections of this horse because they’ve really supported me, they were a little bit unlucky to lose with Sierra [Leone in 2024] and I thought this was their chance at redemption,” Brown said. “This morning, I’d say my focus is more feeling bad for them because I can go on with my other two horses and they can’t.”  Paladin’s injury, which will require surgery in the near future, was diagnosed at the barn following a Saturday morning workout at Payson. Paladin, who won last year’s Remsen and this year’s Risen Star, was pointing to next Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Blue Grass at Keeneland.  “I’m not the only trainer that’s been in this position before,” Brown said. “There’s been a lot of disappointment along the Derby trail with favorites in the past. He was by no means the certain winner of the race anyway, it’s a very competitive race. There’s more racing and challenges to navigate through. That said, he certainly had one of the better chances in the race.”  Iron Honor will certainly have a challenge to navigate through in the Wood Memorial from post 13. Though Iron Honor won the Gotham by just one length over Crown the Buckeye, Brown believes the effort was better than it may look at first blush.  “He got there a couple of days before the race and then off a layoff he was in between horses for most of the race through a stiff half-mile in 46 [seconds], which is challenging and he was able to grind it out and win,” Brown said. “I was impressed he was able to overcome that.”  Iron Honor remained in New York after the Gotham and Brown said the horse was able to remain on a consistent work schedule between the Gotham and the Wood.  “I would predict he’d move forward because of that,” Brown said.  In Ottinho, Brown sends out a half-brother to Gun Runner who won a 1 1/8-mile maiden race by a head before finishing a well-beaten third behind Talk to Me Jimmy in the Withers. Brown said Ottinho had missed significant training time between his maiden win and the Withers due to a quarter crack and that, with blinkers added for the Wood, he expects improvement.  “He’s a little inconsistent grabbing the bit, he’s got a ton of stamina, but he’s not always there for the jockeys in his works and in his first three starts,” Brown said. “We put [blinkers] on to focus him up a little bit and he seems more consistent in his works start to finish.”  Ottinho, who will be ridden by Dylan Davis, got no favors at the draw either, as he was assigned post 11.  Buetane, trained by three-time Wood Memorial winning conditioner Bob Baffert, drew post 12.  Napoleon Solo, the Grade 1 Champagne winner who finished fifth in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park, drew the rail. He is followed, in post order, by Talk to Me Jimmy, Right to Party, Steel, Ocelli, Minorinconvenience, Albus, Courting, Bravaro, Red Zone Runner, Ottinho, Buetane and Iron Honor.  The Wood offers its top five finishers qualifying points (100-50-25-15-10) to the Kentucky Derby.  The Wood is the last of 12 races on a card that begins at 12:40 p.m. and includes four other stakes.  *** In the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter, Book’em Danno, the reigning champion sprinter, drew post 2 in a field of six. Entered against him were the undefeated Rated by Merit, Point Dume, Be You, Acoustic Ave and Quint’s Brew.  Point Dume and Quint’s Brew are cross-entered in the Frank Whiteley Stakes at Laurel the same day.  *** Paradise, the dominant winner of the Busher Stakes for trainer Brad Cox on Feb. 28, drew the rail and figures to be favored in a field of nine 3-year-old fillies entered in the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle Stakes. The Gazelle, at 1 1/8 miles, offers its top five finishers qualifying points (100-50-25-15-10) to the May 1 Kentucky Oaks. The field includes Nycon, second in the Busher, Two Bits, winner of the Ruthless Stakes, and Victory Hall, a two-time New York-bred stakes winner.  *** Immersive, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2024, will make her 4-year-old debut in the Grade 3, $150,000 Distaff Stakes at seven furlongs. Among her three Grade 1 wins as a juvenile was the Grade 1 Spinaway at seven furlongs at Saratoga. She has not raced since capturing the Seneca Overnight Stakes last Sept. 25 at Churchill Downs.  With the Angels, Hold Your Breath, Grammy Girl and Jody’s Pride were among those entered against Immersive.  *** Yo Daddy and Classicist, one-two in a 1 1/8-mile allowance race on Feb. 4, are among seven entered in the $150,000 Excelsior at 1 1/4 miles. The seven-horse field includes Otello and Over and Ollie, both cross-entered in Saturday’s Native Diver Stakes at Laurel on Saturday.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.