Wimbledon Injury Also Sidelines Bailey, Baffert

The 130th Kentucky Derby will be run today without two mainstays, trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Jerry Bailey, whose 15-1 shot, Wimbledon, was scratched Friday because of a swelling in the tendon area of his left front leg.

Wimbledon, winner of the Louisiana Derby in March but a far-back fifth in the Santa Anita Derby a month ago, had been training superbly and was considered a legitimate longshot play, partly because of Baffert and Bailey, who have won the Derby a combined five times.

The Derby lost another starter Friday when St Averil, a 30-1 shot, was scratched because of sore feet. The two dropouts reduced the field to 18 horses.

Wimbledon, a gray colt owned by Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, a Houston furniture mogul, is expected to recover, but further tests of the knot-like injury will determine the horse’s future as a runner.

When protective bandages were removed from his legs Friday morning, the injury -- about the size of a dime -- was discovered.

“It may not be that bad, but it’s enough that we don’t feel comfortable about running,” Baffert said.

Wimbledon seemed to have rebounded from his dull Santa Anita Derby finish. Sunday, over a sloppy track, he turned in a sparkling :59 3/5 five-furlong workout at Churchill Downs. With rain in the forecast, the Derby could be run on an off-track.

Baffert, who has won the Derby with Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998 and War Emblem in 2002, will miss the race for the first time since he started his first horses here in 1996. He has run 13 horses in the Derby, including Cavonnier, who was nosed out by Grindstone for the roses in 1996.

Bailey, who won with Sea Hero in 1993 and Grindstone, is without a mount for the first time since 1990. Wimbledon’s scratch meant that Bailey lost out in an intriguing exercise in jockey roulette.

Bailey, who has never ridden Wimbledon, has ridden four of today’s starters, and before picking Wimbledon had considered riding Read The Footnotes.

“This might be an extra reason to ride another year,” said Bailey, a 46-year-old Hall of Fame jockey.

Bailey, as the result of a temporary injunction by a federal judge Thursday, had been scheduled to be one of at least five jockeys wearing advertising on their pants in the Derby. Bailey was to have been paid $30,000 by his sponsor, believed to be Wrangler jeans.

Had St Averil been scratched before Wednesday, another good horse, Rock Hard Ten, would have moved into the field. Rock Hard Ten finished second in the Santa Anita Derby but was disqualified and dropped to third.

There hasn’t been a capacity field of 20 at the Derby since 1984. There might have been 20 horses in 2002, but Buddha was scratched the day before the race and the Baffert-trained Danthebluegrassman didn’t run because of muscle cramps the morning of the Derby. Baffert was criticized in some circles because when Danthebluegrassman was entered at the last minute, Windward Passage was prevented from running because of Churchill Downs’ earnings rule. Baffert wound up winning the race with War Emblem.

Baffert had another Derby contender, Preachinatthebar, who won the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in March, but he took himself out of the race by running seventh in the Blue Grass at Keeneland.