During Saturday’s competition, Country House and the French-born jockey beat out 19 other competitors in the Churchill Downs race in Louisville.
The win came after Maximum Security was first named the winner. But minutes later, an inquiry ruling named Country House, who was a longshot at 65-1, as the official victor.
After the race, Prat filed a rider’s objection claiming Maximum Security had impeded the path in the final turn. The objection was upheld following an extensive review.
Flavien Prat.
“We never made contact because there were horses between us. The horse on the inside hit my horse and I kind of lost momentum. The horses between Country House and Maximum Security were affected,” Prat said.
“Once I got him outside, I made my move and Maximum Security started to drift out and the two horses inside had more trouble than I did, but it affected me anyway,” he explained.
This was the first time a horse crossing the line first has been disqualified.
Coming into this year’s race, Omaha Beach was the predicted favorite to take the title, according toCBS Sports, with 4-1 odds. Unfortunately,just days before the race, the star horse was pulled from the event, his trainer Richard Mandella confirmed, according toESPN.
TheAssociated Pressreported that Omaha Beach, who just turned 3 in April, would undergo surgery in Kentucky last week.
source: people.com
