Report: Bruising ends Derby runner-up Renegade's 2026
Mild bone bruising will keep Kentucky Derby runner-up Renegade out of action for the rest of 2026, trainer Todd Pletcher told Daily Racing Form on Tuesday.
Pletcher downplayed the injury and set a 2027 return as the goal.
“I don’t think it’s significant. We’re hoping (out of training) in the neighborhood of 60 days and go back into training with a 4-year-old campaign in mind,” Pletcher told DRF. “Obviously, that’s going to exclude anything happening in Saudi and Dubai, but we’re hoping to have a relatively full campaign.”
The layoff followed the first off-the-board finish of Renegade’s nine-race career. Sent off as the second choice in the Travers (G1) on Aug. 29 at Saratoga, the son of Into Mischief acted up in the starting gate, lunged at the break and got squeezed back by Ocelli and The Puma. He trailed the 10-horse field by 17 1/2 lengths after a half-mile and crossed the wire eighth, 10 3/4 lengths behind winner Leading Change.
“He wasn’t quite settled leaving the gate, and then he got swiped by (Ocelli and The Puma),” Pletcher said the next morning in comments released by the New York Racing Association. “I think it all went wrong before the start.”
Renegade went 3-for-6 in 2026. He opened the year with a victory in the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 7 and followed with a score in the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn on March 28. He fell a neck short of Golden Tempo in the Kentucky Derby on May 2, then finished third behind the same rival as the favorite in the Belmont Stakes, run at Saratoga on June 6.
He rebounded Aug. 1 in the Jim Dandy (G2), rallying from 11 1/2 lengths back to catch Commandment by a half-length and hand Pletcher his ninth Jim Dandy victory. Trainer Brad Cox said Aug. 30 that Commandment had developed a minor setback and would not race again this year.
At 2, Renegade went winless in three starts. He crossed the finish line first in a maiden race Oct. 17, 2025, at Aqueduct, but the stewards disqualified him to second for interfering with Paladin. He closed the year with a runner-up finish in the Remsen Stakes (G2) on Dec. 6. His record stands at 9: 3-3-2.
Mike Repole’s Repole Stable owns Renegade in partnership with Robert and Lawana Low, who bred the colt in Kentucky.