Kentucky Derby 2023: Arabian Knight is off the trail

Arabian Knight, one of the winter-book favorites to win Kentucky Derby 2023, is off the trail for the May 6 classic, according to a Twitter post from the colt’s owner.

“Arabian Knight is no longer under consideration for the Kentucky Derby,” Zedan Racing Stables said in their social-media post Saturday night. “Trainer Tim Yakteen wasn’t happy with his last work, and we feel it’s in Arabian Knight’s best interest not to rush and (to) allow him more time to develop. We know he’s a superior talent, and our plan is to point him toward a summer and fall campaign.”

An Uncle Mo colt, Arabian Knight had been 5-1 at both Caesars Sportsbook and Circa Sports in Nevada to win the Derby. That was before the routine suspension of betting Saturday for the running of a points prep, in this case the Tampa Bay Derby (G3). He was 6-1 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, the current weekend, pari-mutuel pool conducted by Churchill Downs.

Bought by Amr Zedan for $2.3 million last spring, Arabian Knight upped his record to 2-for-2 with his 5 1/2-length win Jan. 28 win in the Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn. That followed his 7 1/4-length triumph on debut in the Nov. 5 opener on the Breeders’ Cup Classic card at Keeneland.

After going 19 days between workouts, Arabian Knight turned in a five-furlong, 59.2-second breeze last Saturday at Santa Anita. He went six furlongs Thursday in 1:13.6, and Yakteen apparently felt something was amiss.

Arabian Knight was one of eight 3-year-old colts who was transferred late last month to Yakteen from Bob Baffert, who lost a federal-court bid to set aside his two-year Churchill Downs suspension that has made horses in his name ineligible for the Derby.