Kentucky Derby: Winning Cause, Tiz a Minister ruled out; Fear the Kitten jumps in

LOUISVILLE, Ky -- The likely field for the 139th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs came into sharper focus Monday, when trainer Bob Baffert finally made it official that neither Govenor Charlie nor Code West would run, trainer Todd Pletcher decided to pass the race with Winning Cause, owner Stephen Young said Tiz a Minister would not travel from California, and trainer Mike Maker added Fear the Kitten to the prospective line-up.

Fear the Kitten most recently finished fifth in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. He also was fifth in the Spiral, and second in the Southwest.

Those developments leave a field of 20, the maximum. Golden Soul has 14 points, Fear the Kitten 6. Entries are due, and posts will be drawn, on Wednesday.

The defections of Baffert's pair were expected, as was Pletcher's decision.

Pletcher worked Winning Cause a half-mile on Monday morning, and he was caught in 48.46 seconds by Daily Racing Form, but Pletcher said passing the race was the smart thing to do. Winning Cause, whose success has been on synthetic surfaces, is expected to make his next start on Polytrack at Woodbine

- additional reporting by Byron King

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