Anyone hoping to see Rob Gronkowski celebrating his namesake horse’s win at this year’s Kentucky Derby will have to find something else to root for at the track.
Gronkowski the horse will not be running at Churchill Downs on May 5. After a report on Monday of a “setback” that could dash plans for a Derby run, the horse’s owners announced that the horse has indeed been scratched. The horse ran a fever over the weekend that required antibiotics and won’t be making the trip to Louisville as a result.
“We are beyond disappointed that Gronkowski will miss the Kentucky Derby,” Tom Ludt of Phoenix Thoroughbred said. “To have a Derby contender with our first group of three-year-olds was a dream come true, and to have had New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski join us on that journey made it even more exciting. But we must put the welfare of the horse first and we will look forward to the colt recovering quickly and to his future races.”
The Patriots tight end recently acquired a stake in the horse. He’s also been hanging out in the world of dirt bikes while the Patriots offseason program rolls on without his participation.