2025 Kentucky Derby: Rodriguez, Bob Baffert’s top contender, scratched with foot injury; Baeza enters field

Just 48 hours out from the 151st Kentucky Derby, one of the top contenders in the 2025 Run for the Roses has been scratched from the race. 

Rodriguez, who opened at 12-1 but had seen his odds shorten to 6-1 as the week wore on, was scratched due to a bruised foot by trainer Bob Baffert on Thursday evening. In his place, Baeza will draw into the field. 

Rodriguez was considered the biggest contender of Baffert’s two horses as the winner of the Wood Memorial earlier in the year, but Baffert wasn’t comfortable with the bruised foot being healed enough by Saturday. Baffert told The Athletic he was targeting the Preakness Stakes in two weeks for Rodriguez’s return to the track. 

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Rodriguez was set to run out of the 4 post, and his scratch means every horse from 5 to 20 will move in one post position on race day, with Baeza entering the field and running from the 20 post (as the 21 horse on the bulletin). 

Baffert still has one other horse in the field, Citizen Bull, who will run out of the first post. Citizen Bull opened at 20-1 and is down to 16-1 in the live odds. 

How Rodriguez’s scratch impacts the odds sheet will be fascinating, as he had moved into the third-favorite position in the live odds before being scratched and now there are only two horses — Journalism (7-2) and Sandman (5-1) — with odds inside 10-1. That could very well change by post time on Saturday, and we’ll find out how the betting market reacts to one of the most popular picks being scratched out of the race on horse racing apps like FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET is up huge.