Bob Baffert scratches one of his two horses for the Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial winner who was considered trainer Bob Baffert’s best horse in this year’s Kentucky Derby, scratched out of the race on Thursday after a sensitive foot bruise was discovered on the 3-year-old colt. He is expected to recover quickly and will be pointed to the Preakness States in two weeks.

“The horse is by all measures healthy and well,” Tom Ryan, who heads Rodriguez’s ownership group, said. “I guess we look on the bright side and know we can now target him for the Preakness.

“Of all the possible setbacks, this is the one we can live with.”

Ryan said the sensitivity was discovered a couple days ago and “out of an abundance of caution” the owners and Baffert thought a scratch was the right thing to do.

The horse is not in any pain, said Ryan, the foot is just a little sensitive.

“The diagnostic work came back clear and clean,” Ryan said.

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The same ownership group also has Citizen Bull in the race. He won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and was named Eclipse 2-year-old male champion.

The defection made room for another Southern California horse, Baeza. He has been at Churchill Downs biding his time while waiting for an opening in the race. He is considered a strong contender but will break from the 20th gate, the farthest outside. It is protocol when an “also eligible” horse is added to the race after the draw.

Baeza finished second to Journalism, the Derby favorite, in the Santa Anita Derby. He is trained by John Shirreffs.

“I think 20 is an OK post for Baeza being a horse that hasn’t had a lot of races,” Shirreffs told Horse Racing Nation. “Certainly we won’t be in the gate very long, so that’s a big plus, and he won’t get caught up in a lot of traffic right out of the gate. There are a lot of benefits from being out there.”