Brad Cox had it all going for him. He was the only trainer with three horses in the $5 million, 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby, and all three were solid contenders. Then, on April 30th, everything fell apart when he had to scratch Fulleffort after discovering an injury. It meant that while Cox’s odds of winning his second Derby had dropped, the bigger question was whether Fulleffort would ever race again.

Cox and his team detected a chip in his left hind fetlock, forcing the scratch. Thus, he will have to have surgery to remove it, concerning many. But Cox has played down rumors of a serious injury.

“Yeah, yeah, not at all,” Cox said in an interview with FanDuel Racing. “Just obviously not moving well enough to even proceed with training this morning, and this is where we are. It’s never good timing, but the main thing is, he’s fine, and it’ll be an easy fix.”

This is a big blow for Brad Cox, especially since Fulleffort was on a decent streak. The three-year-old thoroughbred qualified for the Derby after earning the full 100 points at the G3 Jeff Ruby Stakes. Before that, he finished second twice at the Leonatus Stakes and John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, although both happened to be turf and synthetic races.

It made his qualification into the Derby interesting, as it would mean translating that performance onto the Churchill Downs dirt. And Cox was optimistic about Fulleffort doing exactly the same even if he was picked at the No. 20 post. But his transition, combined with other better contenders, meant that he had the longest odds of Cox’s three horses, at 20-1.

The other two, Further Ado and Commandment, are among the favorites to win the race. That being said, it does come as no surprise, with Blood Horse ranking the former as their favourite. That is despite Further Ado being mainly a standout Keeneland performer. However, many pundits believe that his early practises and other wins at Churchill Downs point to a big performance.

Commandment, on the other hand, has ranked well, but that’s largely because of his performances. The three-year-old won the G1 Florida Derby narrowly, proving to be the best in a talented field. That and the length of the Kentucky Derby have added to his odds. Cox has been pleased with both remaining horses, and he believes they’ll be at their best on race day.

“They both stood in the gate, backed out, had good, great gallops,” Cox added. “I thought they were both moving very well and they’re full of themselves.”

“They’re enjoying the cool weather, and it looks like it’s gonna be cool through Derby day, and they’re on their toes, and I expect them to run their A race. That’s what they’ve shown us since their last run, and I am pretty confident in both of them.”

Good training sessions echoed his confidence, even if Cox’s chances of winning the Derby on track have dropped slightly. Officials awarded the 2021 Kentucky Derby win to the 46-year-old after they disqualified the former winner, Medina Spirit. But with Fulleffort scratched from the race, Whit Beckman’s Ocelli replaced him in the lineup.

Brad Cox’s Fulleffort replaced by Whit Beckman’s Ocelli

And now, having been scratched from the Kentucky Derby, Fulleffort has been replaced. He marks the second horse scratched from the Derby after Silent Tactic. The Mark Casse-trained horse was scratched after a foot injury and has since been replaced by Great White. And Ocelli follows him into the field, taking over Fulleffort’s No. 20 post with the number 22.

That is as per the Churchill Downs rules, and he enters as a maiden. That is a horse yet to secure his first win, having not won in any of his six career starts. He did, however, place third recently at the Wood Memorial, which qualified him as an alternative for the Kentucky Derby. But history is against Whit Beckman’s horse, as the last maiden to win the Derby was over 90 years ago.

Yet that has never mattered to Beckman, as he has been training Ocelli as if he were in the Derby.

“I kind of had the expectation all along that if you’re within a couple spots that you have a chance,” Beckman said as per NWAOnline. “Especially in this day and age, it just seems there’s always a lot of changes from the time we draw to the time we run. We were kind of quietly confident that things would go our way.”

While the late scratch reshapes Brad Cox’s Derby plans, his focus has clearly shifted toward a smooth recovery for Fulleffort rather than immediate results. In the meantime, with two strong contenders still in the field, the trainer remains quietly confident that his Derby story this year isn’t finished just yet.