Trainer Chad Brown will sit out this year’s Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks. Brown confirmed Sunday that Blazing Sevens, who sits 17th on the Kentucky Derby points list, will bypass the Run for the Roses on May 6 and instead be pointed to the Preakness on May 20. Additionally, Brown said that Shidabhuti, who sits 7th on the Kentucky Oaks points list, will skip that race and point to the Grade 1 Acorn at Belmont Park on June 9. The defection of Blazing Sevens allows Jace’s Road to draw into the body of the Kentucky Derby field, which is limited to 20 starters. Skinner, the third-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby, would be the next horse to get into the body of the field should a defection arise between now and entry day, May 1. The defection of Shidabhuti allows Wonder Wheel, last year’s champion 2-year-old filly and multiple Grade 1 winner, to get into the body of the Oaks field, which is limited to 14 starters. Taxed is now the next horse who would get into the body of the Oaks field provided there is a defection between now and May 1, entry day. :: Take your handicapping to the next level and play with FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic.  Blazing Sevens, who won the Grade 1 Champagne and was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at 2, had mixed results in his first two starts this year, running eighth in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, 26 lengths behind Forte at Gulfstream Park. With blinkers added, Blazing Sevens improved to finish third, six lengths behind Tapit Trice in the Grade 1 Blue Grass. Still, Brown believes the horse is a race away from perhaps giving his best effort. “I just feel this horse ran out of time really to develop to get to that race with a good chance to be competitive, meaning I’m looking to have a chance to win or be in the top 3,” Brown said Sunday afternoon. “He’s a race behind where he needs to be. “It’s a hard thing to pass on when you have those highly sought-after points,” Brown added. “[Owners] John and Carla Capek are clients who have been in the game three years, they’re wonderful to deal with and in speaking with them they want to put the horse first, which I love.” Brown won the Preakness last year with Early Voting and in 2017 with Cloud Computing, both horses who had enough points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby but whom Brown held out of that race. “I feel like I’ll have more time to set the horse up for really the best race of his life and then it’s up to him if he can handle the extra distance,” Brown said of Blazing Sevens. “There’s still a question mark with how far he can run. I like my chances better than trying the Derby.” Brown will still have a keen interest in the Derby as the co-breeder along with Sol Kumin of Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move, trained by Tim Yakteen. Shidabhuti, a daughter of Practical Joke, won her first three starts, all around one turn, including the Busher Stakes, which earned her enough points to crack the Oaks field. However, in her first start around two turns, the Grade 3 Gazelle at 1 1/8 miles, Shidabhuti finished third, two lengths behind upset winner Promiseher America. Brown feels, at this point of her career, the cutback to one turn will benefit Shidabhuti. “We feel like she ran terrific in the Gazelle, she got a very good trip and it was just a little too far that last sixteenth,” Brown said. “We’ll cut back to one turn and go for a Grade 1 there.” The Acorn, previously run at one mile, this year will be contested at 1 1/16 miles, still around one turn, at Belmont. Brown said another factor in his decision to skip both races was the fact he couldn’t get the rider he wanted for either horse. In the Oaks, Wonder Wheel will try to rebound from a second in the Suncoast Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs and a last-place finish in the Grade 1 Alcibiades at Keeneland. Mark Casse, trainer of Wonder Wheel, said Joel Rosario would ride her for the first time in the Oaks. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.