Kentucky Derby favourite Maxfield ruled out of Triple Crown contest

Maxfield, the ante-post favourite for the Kentucky Derby, will miss the race after suffering an injury while breezing at Keeneland on Wednesday morning, according to trainer Brendan Walsh.

The Godolphin-owned three-year-old, who is unbeaten in three starts and was a general 3-1 shot for the first leg of the US Triple Crown, suffered a non-life-threatening condylar fracture to his front right cannonbone.

Maxfield will undergo surgery on the injured front leg which puts him out of the rescheduled Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on September 5. Walsh described the setback as "devastating".

The son of Street Sense had been warming up for a tilt at the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on July 11 and had shown serious improvement in his morning workouts at the track in the past month.

Tiz The Law: now the clear favourite for the Kentucky DerbyCredit: Coglianese Photos

He headed the betting alongside Tiz The Law for the 'Run for the Roses' after an unbeaten juvenile campaign that saw him land a maiden special weight contest and the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders' Futurity in a romp last October.

Maxfield defied a long absence to retain his 100 per cent record in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs last month under regular rider Jose Ortiz, which propelled him to the top of the three-year-old rankings.

Barclay Tagg's Tiz The Law now stands as the clear market leader for the delayed Kentucky Derby, with west coast shipper Honor A. P. the current second choice after his Santa Anita Derby victory last weekend.

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