Black Onyx was withdrawn on Friday from the lineup for Saturday’s 139th Kentucky Derby, leaving only 19 horses in the field for the first event in American horse racing’s Triple Crown series.
No reason was given for the decision to scratch the 50-1 longshot trained by Kelly Breen. The horse had won the Spiral Stakes on March 23.
Officials at Chruchill Downs said Black Onyx’s post position, the first one along the rail, will remain vacant and all other horses will depart from their previously assigned gates.
Because the move came a few hours after the deadline for other eligible horses to be allowed into the field in the event of a withdrawal, Fear the Kitten — the only eligible horse not to qualify for the field of 20 — was not permitted to replace Black Onyz in the race.
Black Onyx pulls out of Kentucky Derby
