A third horse has scratched from the 2026 Kentucky Derby. See the field changes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Right to Party scratches from the 2026 Kentucky Derby.
- Robusta, trained by Doug O’Neill, moves into the Derby field.
- O’Neill won the 2012 Kentucky Derby with I’ll Have Another and the 2016 race with Nyquist.
For the third time during Kentucky Derby week, there’s been a change to the expected race field.
On Thursday, Right to Party scratched out of the Derby.
This moves Robusta — who began the week third on the also-eligible list for the race — into the Derby field.
Robusta — who is trained by Doug O’Neill and will be ridden by Emisael Jaramillo — is set to begin the Kentucky Derby from post position No. 20.
The horse is a Calumet Farm homebred. O’Neill is a two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer with I’ll Have Another in 2012 and with Nyquist in 2016. Robusta will be O’Neill’s ninth all-time starter in the Derby. He also finished second in the 2021 Kentucky Derby with Hot Rod Charlie, a finishing spot that was finalized following the disqualification of initial race winner Medina Spirit.
Jaramillo hasn’t finished in the money in two previous Derby mounts.
Robusta has won just one of his previous five starts. That victory came in a maiden special weight race at Santa Anita Park in January. Most recently, Robusta finished last out of seven runners in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4.
In Robusta’s other two stakes races, the horse came in second in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes in March and sixth in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February. Both of those races were also at Santa Anita.
Robusta’s sire is Accelerate and his dam is Urbane Legend, who was by Into Mischief.
Robusta is the third also-eligible horse to move into this year’s Kentucky Derby field. Earlier this week, Great White replaced Silent Tactic and Ocelli replaced Fulleffort in the 20-horse field. Silent Tactic scratched due to a bruised foot, and Fulleffort was dealing with a chip left hind ankle.
Only one other horse is listed as an also-eligible for the Derby. That’s Corona de Oro, a Dallas Stewart trainee who only earned six qualifying points on the American Road to the Kentucky Derby pathway.
Corona de Oro can move into the Derby field if another expected Derby runner scratches by 9 a.m. Friday.
