Un Ojo Out of Kentucky Derby, Ethereal Road Makes Field

Dreams of a Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) victory were dashed for some and sprang to life for others May 2 when Un Ojo was declared out of the race because of a bruised left front foot, allowing Ethereal Road to make the body of the 20-horse field. Un Ojo's trainer Ricky Courville confirmed the news to BloodHorse Monday. "He came out of that work Saturday with a bruised foot and it's just not the right thing to do to run him; he's still a little tender on it," Courville said. "We'll let the dust settle … He might go to the farm here in Kentucky; he might come back home (to Louisiana), or if he's better in a week, we might find something else for him." Ethereal Road, owned by Aaron Sones and Julie Gilbert and trained by D. Wayne Lukas, comes off a fourth in the April 16 Stonestreet Lexington Stakes (G3) at Keenland and was seventh in the April 9 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) at the Lexington track. His best finish on the Road to the Kentucky Derby was, coincidentally, a runner-up finish to Un Ojo in the Feb. 26 Rebel Stakes (G2) at Oaklawn Park. "I'm happy to be in, especially for the owner, he wanted to run," Lukas said of Sones. "I've been there, I've done it before, I've had the experience so I'm happy to give him the experience. The horse has trained very well. Whether he's good enough, how far he'll take us, I don't know. But at least that owner's going to have the experience of the Derby and that's the important thing." Luis Contreras will ride Ethereal Road in the Kentucky Derby, Lukas' grandson Brady Lukas shared Monday morning on Twitter. Ethereal Road would be the 50th Derby starter for Lukas, who has won the race four times. Post positions for the Kentucky Derby will be drawn at 2:00 p.m. ET.