Right to Party scratched from Kentucky Derby 2026 field. What we know

New Derby entry Robusta's gate number has been updated in this story.

Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corp. veterinarians huddled together outside thoroughbred trainer Kenny McPeek’s office just after morning workouts for Kentucky Derby contenders ended on May 1.

A regulatory veterinarian stood in McPeek’s office doorway as an exercise rider changed his boots in the corner.

”Hey Kenny, can we talk?”

It was KHRGC chief veterinarian Nick Smith.

”Everybody out,” McPeek said.

Just prior, The Courier Journal had been mid-interview with McPeek about the several recent regulatory vet scratches and a growing tension between trainers and the state vets.

“That’s not good,” Robbie Albarado, a former jockey and McPeek’s exercise rider said outside the shedrow about the impromptu meeting inside McPeek’s office. Another set of horses walked out of the barn toward the track for their morning workouts.

Several state vets crowded around McPeek’s office door. They scratched Right to Party for being unsound due to right front lameness.

They told McPeek they hadn’t liked what they had seen in the horse the last three days, he later told his barn.

In all, the state’s vets were in his office for less than a minute.

“They just flabbergast me. We’ve X-rayed him. We’ve scanned him, my vet says — I just feel badly for Chester,” McPeek said of Right to Party owner Chester Broman Sr..

“This is what they do to us," McPeek told The Courier Journal. "We PET scanned him. Horse hasn’t trained any different in three months, no different.”

A spokesperson from The Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corp. issued a statement by the afternoon May 1:

"Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming cannot comment on the specifics of an individual scratch. However, I can say that the safety and well-being of the racehorses training and competing in Kentucky are the center of everything we do. KHRG closely monitors data pertaining to scratches, including those based on the advice of our regulatory veterinarians. It is one of the most difficult parts of the job, as we share the goal of each horse’s connections for the horse to compete safely.

"KHRG will continue to work with our licensees, HISA, HIWU, and our racetracks to promote the safety of the horse, and protect the jockeys, horsemen, and horsewomen. We are constantly evaluating our processes and procedures with the best interests of the horse in mind, and we will continue to engage with stakeholders, including trainers and attending veterinarians. We all want what is best for the horse."

McPeek-trained horses won both the Oaks and the Derby in 2024.

Right to Party has only four starts in his racing career. This would have been his fifth. He earned his spot in the Kentucky Derby off of a second-place finish in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 4 at Aqueduct.

The scratch comes after Fulleffort was scratched April 30 and Silent Tactic on April 29.

Robusta, which is No. 23 and trained by Doug O’Neill, will now enter and run from post 20. O’Neill also trains Derby contender Pavlovian.

This story may be updated.