Kentucky Derby's early favorite derailed by injury

Vindication is no longer part of Bob Baffert's stable of Kentucky Derby hopefuls.

The undefeated 2-year-old male champion and early Derby favorite was knocked off the Triple Crown trail by a strained ligament in his left front leg. The injury was not considered serious, and the colt could return to race in the summer.

While Baffert said Thursday he was devastated by the turn of events, the trainer of three of the past six Derby winners still has a strong hand for the Derby on May 3.

Kafwain, winner of the San Vicente and runner-up in the BC Juvenile, and Domestic Dispute, winner of the Santa Catalina, are his top prospects. Two more of his 3-year-olds -- Spensive and Truckle Feature -- are set to run Friday in the Sham Stakes at Santa Anita.

But Vindication, a son of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew, was the best of the bunch. The powerful dark bay, purchased for $2.15 million as a yearling, won all four of his races for owners Satish and Anne Sanan of Padua Stables.

Padua general manager Nadia Sanan said the extent of the injury was unclear, but more details would be known after further tests in two months.

"Unfortunately, this derails his training for the Derby," Nadia Sanan said.

The colt was training at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., and the injury might have occurred during a routine morning gallop. Vindication was working toward his 3-year-old debut, which was expected to come next month.

Beside the Derby, Vindication will also miss the Preakness on May 17 and the Belmont Stakes three weeks later. The hope is for Vindication to be back for the Travers Stakes at Saratoga in August and then the Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita in October.

"This is obviously a devastating blow to my family and Padua Stables, but we remain hopeful that we will soon know what the problem is, and he will be able to resume training as soon as possible," Nadia Sanan said.

Vindication had overcome a foot bruise after a workout late last month, and returned to training earlier this week. A precautionary ultrasound, though, revealed a "minute spot" on the suspensory ligament, which starts at the back of the knee and helps support the ankle.

"We just found it by accident," Baffert said in a Web site story on Bloodhorse.com. "Everyone at the barn and at Padua are devastated. We're still in denial.

"These horses are so fragile, and that's why I didn't want to talk about the horse too much. You never know what's going to happen. The highs in this game are really high, but the lows are horrible."

Since the Breeders' Cup began in 1984, no BC Juvenile winner has ever gone on to win the Kentucky Derby.