Updated Pennsylvania Derby odds: Improbable favored

Improbable, the 3-1 second choice in the original morning line for the Grade 1, $1 million Pennsylvania Derby, now registers as an 8-5 favorite according to revised odds released Tuesday afternoon by Parx Racing oddsmaker John DaSilva.

The change is a result of the major defection of Maximum Security, who was diagnosed with a large colon nephrosplenic entrapment following his Monday workout and will scratch from Saturday's race.

The entrapment occurs when a portion of the horse’s colon turns and becomes stuck over the ligament that connects the horse’s left kidney and spleen along the left side off the body cavity. The condition is not expected to be career-ending.

Servis said that Maximum Security is back at his barn at Monmouth Park following his brief stay at the Mid-Atlantic Equine Clinic in Ringoes, N.J.

“He’s wiped out,” Servis said. “I feel bad. It’s just unfortunate. The good thing is that he didn’t need surgery. It was a no-brainer (not running in the Pennsylvania Derby). The Wests (owners Gary and Mary) have always been about the horse. The race was a Grade 1, that was the most important thing. The money was secondary.”

Maximum Security has won five of seven career starts, the most recent being the Haskell Invitational (G1) on July 20 at Monmouth.

The defection of Maximum Security leaves the Pennsylvania Derby, which will be televised on NBC from 5-6 p.m. ET Saturday, with a field of six.

“That is horrible. You hate to see that,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who is sending Improbable from California to run in the Pennsylvania Derby. “As a trainer, you never wish anybody any bad luck. I just hope he is all right and it’s nothing serious. He was definitely the horse to beat.”

The full field, with revised morning-line odds: Math Wizard (6-1), Improbable (8-5), Shanghai Superfly (30-1), War of Will (4-1), Spun to Run (8-1) and Mr. Money (2-1).

The Pennsylvania Derby would have been the first time Maximum Security and War of Will, the two horses at the center of the Kentucky Derby controversy, had met since that race. War of Will was trying to come off the rail approaching the top of the stretch in the Derby and was impeded by Maximum Security and jockey Luis Saez, who came out several paths.

“They are animals, not machines,” said Mark Casse, War of Will’s trainer. “Too many times, people believe they go out and just go around there. It doesn’t work that way. They get sick. They don’t feel good. Just like us.”

“I mean, he’s the Derby winner … unofficially,” Baffert added of Maximum Security. “People wanted to see a true racehorse. It’s on TV. It’s a big deal. I never get excited until I put the saddle on them. I just feel real bad for the connections.”