by Mike Curry

One day after The Pamplemousse was scratched from the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby (G1), part-owner Alex Solis II said the Kafwain colt will not contest the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1).

The winner of the Sham (G3) and San Rafael (G3) Stakes, The Pamplemousse was scratched by trainer Julio Canani on Saturday morning after veterinarians detected some heat in a tendon.

"He's comfortable; he's fine," Solis said on Sunday. "He's walking right now. He's going to run again. He's not finished, but he will not run in the Kentucky Derby.

"He has a small lesion [on the tendon in his left front leg] and we'll do the best thing by the horse. We're grateful that Julio [Canani] scratched yesterday. The Pamplemousse will run again. His time off will be indefinite, but it will be longer than six months."

Solis’s Alex Solis Bloodstock purchased The Pamplemousse for $150,000 at the Ocala Breeders’ Sales Co. March sale of selected two-year-olds in training. The son of jockey Alex Solis, The Pamplemousse’s regular rider, the younger Solis owns the Kafwain colt as part of a partnership.

Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor