Pablo del Monte draws into Derby field but participation is not definite

Pablo del Monte has a spot in the Derby gate if his owners decide to run (Jamie Newell/Horsephotos.com)

Susan Magnier, Derrick Smith, Michael Tabor and trainer Wesley Ward’s Pablo
del Monte, who was placed on the also-eligible list for Saturday’s Kentucky
Derby after entries were taken Wednesday, became eligible to run in the first
leg of the Triple Crown Thursday morning because of the scratch of Hoppertunity.

“It’s amazing to have the opportunity to run,” Ward said. “I own 25 percent
of the horse. With my 25 percent there is nothing I’d love better, with a horse
that I bred, than to run. But I have to go with what my partners want to do, and
respect it.”

Not expecting to draw into the 20-horse Derby field, Ward and his partners
were looking ahead to the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes
on May 17.

“The original plan, when we weren’t in the race, was to go to the Preakness
because we didn’t think we’d have this decision to make. We felt the spacing of
five weeks between races was ideal and that everything looked good,” said Ward,
whose homebred finished third in the April 12 Blue Grass over Keeneland’s
synthetic Polytrack. “But I’m hopeful they’ll want to run in the Derby.”