Bob Baffert-trained horse scratched from Kentucky Derby ahead of Hall of Famer's return to Churchill Downs

The field for the st edition of the Kentucky Derby was reduced to by Friday after two horses were scratched with foreseen complications including one colt trained by legendary trainer Bob Baffert Rodriguez the Wood Memorial winner was scratched Thursday due to a bruised foot and will instead be sidelined until the second leg of the Triple Crown the Preakness Stakes on May Out of an abundance of caution we have made a very tough decision to scratch our Derby horse Rodriguez Tom Ryan of Starlight Racing one of the colt's multiple owners verified in a post on X CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS COM He has a small but slightly sensitive foot bruise that will need a limited more days Therefore we are resetting our plans and will target him for the Preakness Rodriguez was one of two horses trained by Baffert competing in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday The Hall of Fame trainer is returning to Churchill Downs for the first time since Medina Spirit s Kentucky Derby supremacy in a title that was later stripped because of a positive drug test resulting in a three-year suspension for Baffert BOB BAFFERT'S KENTUCKY DERBY RETURN A TIMELINE OF THE SAGA THAT KEPT THE FAMED TRAINER FROM CHURCHILL DOWNS It was an honest mistake Baffert reported in a sitdown interview with Fox Friends on Friday morning The testing levels are so low now It was in an ointment and we didn t realize until about hours that it was being used humanly he had a horrible skin rash We were fighting for the horse Baffert declared of the legal battle that ensued after Medina Spirit s title was stripped He mentioned fallout was never over a denial of a positive drug test He earned that win Baffert will still have a horse in the race as he pursues a record-breaking seventh win at the Kentucky Derby a record he briefly held in Citizen Bull a two-year-old colt drew the dreaded No post for Saturday s race Baeza entered the -horse field in place of Rodriguez but the field was reduced to after Grande was also scratched on Friday with a cracked heel The Associated Press contributed to this analysis Follow Fox News Digital s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter