2011 Kentucky Derby: Uncle Mo's Scratching Helps Archarcharch, Soldat

(Note: There is conflicting information as to which gate Churchill Downs moves. It used to be from inside out, as mentioned in this article, but there is no official report yet from the track. We'll get you the official report as soon as it comes out.)

If you were to ask anyone at the beginning of the week for the two polar opposite horses in the Kentucky Derby in every conceivable category, it would have been hard to look past Uncle Mo and Archarcharch. 

Uncle Mo, a three-year-old superstar colt, was on everyone's mind and tongue. Heck, owner Mike Repole refused to hush up about him, and hush up is the correct phrase here. You can turn around media if you want. You can talk down. Repole never did that. Repole created a story around him, for good or for bad. He played mind games. He got Bob Baffert, who claimed Uncle Mo wasn't ill at all, to fall right into his game and embarrass himself in the process. 

He's also a Johnny-Come-Lately, only joining the game in 2002 and focusing on high-level horses almost from the start. 

His trainer, Todd Pletcher, is about as big a name as you can get in the business. Last year at the Breeders' Cup, I ran into an Irish couple parked on the backside at Churchill Downs behind the barn area. They were looking intently through the chain-link fence onto the property. “I see Pletcher. He's checking out one of his horses,” the man said. It's not just in America where Pletcher's face is easily recognizable. 

The jockey, John Velazquez, is one of the premier jockeys in the history of American turf. He has won eight Breeders' Cup races and amassed an impeccable resume. The only thing missing, of course, is a Kentucky Derby triumph. He may go down in history as one of the three or four best jockeys not to take America's Race. 

In fact, until last year, none of them could lay claim to a Derby. 

And the colt himself? He was supposed to be here. He was supposed to win. Until recently, there was little doubt as to his pedigree.

Archarcharch? Just turn everything around. 

He was anything but a highly fancied horse, even after he won the Southwest Stakes in February. After a poor trip in the Rebel, he won the Arkansas Derby at 25-1 odds to earn his place in Louisville. Then to boot, they gave him the worst possible starting gate. 

Owner Bob Yagos is the quiet, humble man who feeds his horses himself each day, as he's done every day in his 20 years in the business. He doesn't go out to create a story, he doesn't say he's going to bet his horse down to make him the favorite. He takes it as it goes. 

The same can be said of soft-spoken journeyman trainer Jinks Fires, brother of Hall of Fame jockey Earlie Fires. He's a good ol' boy, the kind of everyday trainer you see around with a string of horses at any track in the country, in the business not for fame or glory but for the love of the horses. 

Jockey Jon Court falls right in. 

He started his career in 1980 and has been around the block, riding predominantly at Churchill Downs in the summer and Oaklawn in the winter. He's part of the Fires family, literally speaking, the husband to Jinks's daughter, Krystal. Despite being a Churchill regular, this is his first go in the Derby. 

Archarcharch was never supposed to be here, not as a $60,000 yearling purchase. 

And it's fitting that with the scratch of Uncle Mo, his polar opposite is the one who benefits the most. 

The first post position to go when the field shrinks to 19 is the inside rail, followed by the second post. After that, they move from the outside, removing gate 20, then 19, and so on from the outside in. 

While the two-hole isn't great, it's much better than the one-hole. And after Wednesday's draw, the post is a dream come true for the connections of Archarcharch. 

Of course, no one roots for a horse to get injured or ill. A consummate horseman like Fires would never even dream of wanting this to happen. He'd much rather see Uncle Mo in the gate, to see the complete field, and have his horse try to overcome the supposed impediment. 

After how this team has beaten the odds so much, they would be happy to do that. 

But Uncle Mo is ill. Uncle Mo is not healthy enough to run. He is scratched. No matter how you look at it, it helps Archarcharch. 

This also is a breath of fresh air for the team of Soldat. 

Soldat wants to be right there out after the lead, and drawing well to the outside of Comma to the Top and Shackleford, the two other speed horses, gave him a tactical advantage. But with Uncle Mo looming one gate over to his outside, there was the chance that he could get squeezed out by Uncle Mo, who also wants to be up front. 

That danger is now mitigated, and all Soldat has to do is get out cleanly and he'll be on the outside of his rivals instead of in-between or stuck inside. 

The scratch of Uncle Mo is not something anyone wanted. The field is not the same when one of the key players or even any player is scratched. Considering who it was that scratched, the complexion of the race changes drastically. 

It's a good morning for the camp of Soldat, even if they didn't root for it to be. No one roots for a horse to fall ill.

But it is Archarcharch who benefits the most.