Gallery: 2/5
Horse: Patch
Bio: Patch heads to Churchill Downs with just three races under his belt in 2017. He is coming off a second place finish in the Louisiana Derby. The horse's other two races happened at Gulfstream Park. Patch won the February race and came in second in the January contest. According to America's Best Racing, the horse has earned $230,020 in 2017 and has a solid speed figure of 105. ESPN's Jeannine Edwards spoke on ABC's "Good Morning America" about the significance of Patch's injury and the inspiration he has been to many horse racing fans. "He’s an underdog with a disability, but he doesn’t let that disability keep him on the sidelines,” Edwards told ABC. “Patch actually lost his left eye less than a year ago to inflammation. The vets tried to salvage it. They could not and had to [surgically remove] the eye. Peripheral vision is very important to horses so that they can see all the way around them, so he basically can only see half his world. Three prior horses with one eye have raced in the Kentucky Derby. None have won. Patch is looking to be the first. It would be quite an upset indeed.” Prior to the Kentucky Derby, Patch had not raced in a contest of that magnitude but neither had any of the other horses. It was the same in the Louisiana Derby where Patch performed well. (Getty)