Brocco Scratched; Sore Hoof : Belmont: The Santa Anita Derby winner is expected to return in the Travers Stakes or the Pacific Classic.

The Belmont Stakes lost one of its favorites Saturday morning when Brocco, the Santa Anita Derby winner, was scratched from the Triple Crown race because of a stone bruise to his right front hoof.

Trainer Randy Winick said Brocco might have been injured during a three-furlong workout Thursday.

“It didn’t show up until Friday,” Winick said. “It was in the best interests of the horse not to run him. If the race was three to five days later, we would have had no problem.”

Brocco, who races for Albert Broccoli, the producer of the James Bond films, and his wife, Dana, recovered from a bad start to run fourth in the Kentucky Derby. He was listed at 3-1, the same as Tabasco Cat, on the advance betting line for the Belmont, behind favored Go For Gin and second choice Strodes Creek.

By skipping the Belmont, Brocco became the 10th consecutive winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile not to win a Triple Crown race.

“It’s unfortunate that Brocco didn’t get to run,” said trainer Wayne Lukas, who won the Belmont with Tabasco Cat. “But I don’t think his being out of there changed anything about the way we ran our race. You have to feel for Brocco’s people. They skipped the Preakness, giving the horse the extra rest, and then he seemed to be training well at Belmont Park.”

After Winick discovered Brocco’s problem Friday, he soaked the colt’s hoof in ice water to reduce the swelling in the infected area.

“We gradually got him from 50% up to about 80% OK, but that’s not enough to win this race,” Winick said. “We didn’t want to hurt this horse. We didn’t want any kind of incident on the track or even for the horse to look bad running. He’s too valuable to risk anything like that. We’ve got a lot of opportunities later. It’s heart-breaking, because he never missed a beat here. . . . He had three sensational works.”

Brocco will be flown back to California on Tuesday. He is expected to run in one of two August races, the Travers for 3-year-olds at Saratoga or the Pacific Classic against older horses at Del Mar.

Numerous, another California-based horse who was stabled in the same Belmont Park barn as Brocco, has a bruised left front hoof and his trainer, Charlie Whittingham, scratched the colt from Saturday’s $100,000 Colin Stakes. Numerous finished fifth in the Preakness.