Kentucky Derby: Forte gallops after minor shoe adjustment

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When Forte had his final gallop Friday morning for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, he was wearing a three-quarter shoe on his right front foot. A piece of the shoe was cut off at the upper part of the inside heel.

“Take a little pressure off the heel,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Something we commonly do.”

Forte bobbled for a stride during his gallop on Thursday morning, which he appeared to complete without incident.

Friday morning, Forte seemed to be moving fine during his routine 1 3/8-mile gallop, which came during the 15-minute session reserved for horses competing in the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.

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“I was very happy with the way he trained today,” Pletcher said afterward. “Everything’s on course at the moment.”

When asked about Thursday’s bobble, Pletcher said: “it’s not something you see very often. He took a little bit of a bobbled step; he recovered right away. As you could see this morning, he switched leads at every spot beautiful, and getting over the ground well. That was a one-off. I don’t know what that was about.”

All horses in the Kentucky Derby still had to undergo further examination by state and track veterinarians Friday and Saturday morning.

Pletcher seemed confident that Forte would not only run in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, but run well. He has won six of seven starts, is a four-time Grade 1 winner, and is expected to go off the favorite in the Derby.

“He’s shown up and run well every start of his life,” Pletcher said. “I would expect no different from him.”

As of Friday morning, four of the original 23 horses entered in the Kentucky Derby have scratched. The latest defection was Skinner, the third-place finisher from the Santa Anita Derby, who was declared out due to a temperature, according to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

Skinner joined Practical Move, Lord Miles and Continuar, horses who were scratched Thursday out of the race.

- additional reporting by Nicole Russo

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