LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Once the Kentucky Derby favorite, Uncle Mo was scratched from the race Friday after his owner and trainer decided the colt had not recovered sufficiently from a gastrointestinal infection that was diagnosed in the days after his first defeat, in the Wood Memorial last month.  The news that Uncle Mo, the Juvenile champion, would not make the starting gate was hardly surprising. His owner, Mike Repole, said all week that there was only a 50-50 chance that Uncle Mo would run in the race. He has been receiving treatment while continuing to train, and though his trainer, Todd Pletcher, insisted he was rounding back into form, it was not in time for the mile-and-a-quarter Derby.  “We had three vets go over him yesterday,” Repole said. “But after they left, Todd said, ‘I don’t want to run this horse.’ The vets didn’t say the horse couldn’t run; in fact they said he could. But when Todd said he didn’t want to run, that was pretty much it for me.”  Pletcher said Uncle Mo had not been eating well, had dropped weight and was not the same horse that was named the Juvenile champion last year. He said that he had no future racing plans for Uncle Mo “until we get a proper diagnosis.”  “I am very, very, very, very disappointed about this,” Pletcher said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a horse as good as Uncle Mo. We’ve had every resource to try to get this horse right, but we’re not there. I take this as a personal failure. We just don’t know what’s wrong with this horse and it scares me.”  John Velazquez, who was supposed to ride Uncle Mo, picked up another ride aboard Animal Kingdom, whose regular rider, Robby Albarado, broke his nose this week at Churchill Downs when a horse bucked him off during a post parade, and then kicked him in the face.  SAVORING THE SLOP There is a strong possibility that the Derby will be run on either a wet or off track for the third straight year.  The weather forecast is for a high around 70 degrees with a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Last year, Super Saver, and in 2009, Mine That Bird, took advantage of the wet track to become Derby champions — both had previously run well on off footing.  Soldat, Midnight Interlude, Pants on Fire, Decisive Moment and Twice the Appeal all have victories over sloppy tracks. Soldat, especially, relishes wet tracks. He has won once and finished second twice in those conditions.  PLUM PRETTY WINS OAKS Plum Pretty held off a late charge from St. John’s River to win the $1 million, Grade I Kentucky Oaks, giving the trainer Bob Baffert his second victory in the filly version of the Kentucky Derby.  Martin Garcia, aboard Plum Pretty, stalked the early leader Summer Soiree before sending his 3-year-old filly to the front at the turn. He held off St. John’s River and jockey Rose Napravnik to the wire in the one-and-one-eighth-mile race. She paid 14.60 for a $2 bet.  Ben Jones in 1952 was the last trainer to win the Oaks and the Derby in the same year. Baffert, a three-time Derby winner, will saddle Midnight Interlude on Saturday.
Uncle Mo could not shake a gastrointestinal infection fast enough to be ready for the biggest race of the year.