Disqualification in the Derby

It was another glorious first Saturday in May in Louisville, as the women dressed up to the nines, and the men wore their very best Seersucker suits.  The Kentucky Derby over the years, has become more of a Fashion, and beautiful people exposition, than the premier event for 3 year old thoroughbreds. But this writer happens to be a big fan of the sport year round, and not just when it’s time to spring for a $200 dollar hat for your wife that she will only wear once in her lifetime.  I’m a fan in November, when the Breeders Cup has come and gone, and next to nobody pays attention to Horse Racing.  So with everybody’s eyes on Churchill Downs on Saturday, I believe a great travesty was perpetrated.

Full Disclosure: I stood to gain (financially) from Maximum Security (#7) staying up as the winner of the 145th Kentucky Derby.
What happened on Saturday afternoon in the 145th Kentucky Derby was an outrage, and I should be upset by it, but the emotion that comes to mind is annoyance. The disqualification of Maximum Security (#7) and the elevation of Country House (#20) as the champion, was on it’s face, stupid. Country House was NOT interfered with, and was never impeded. He was out run to the wire. He lost. The only horse that had a rightful claim of Foul was War of Will (#1). Jockey Tyler Gaffalione did not claim a foul. War of Will’s trainer Mark Casse, said that he did not think that it was worth claiming a foul since his horse finished in 8th place. So a horse/jockey/trainer that had no business claiming a foul, in essence claimed it for somebody else, and then benefited from it. Congratulations to Country House/Flavien Prat/Bill Mott, I guess.

So, what do we have now? The owner of Maximum Security Gary West, is seeking to appeal the ruling, and after being denied (Kentucky law says the Stewards decision is final and cannot be challenged) is now contemplating going to Federal Court to address his grievance. We also got a declaration from Bill Mott (Country House’s trainer) that he will be shooting for the Belmont and will skip the Preakness Stakes, as will Maximum Security. So great, no rematch either. How could this get any worse? Well, it did, with blatant lies from jockey Flavien Prat and Hall of Fame Trainer Bill Mott. I mean, these two guys are great at what they do, but they evidently don’t understand the wonders of replay video. Too many Horse Racing analysts are waxing poetically about “safety”, “the rules”, the “spirit of the law” to justify the disqualification, and to be quite honest, it’s just not legitimate.

Here are the FACTS: The Stewards never posted the inquiry sign at the Race’s conclusion, so they themselves are saying that they saw nothing wrong. The one horse that had a real complaint (War of Will) never lodged an objection. A horse that was never interfered with and did not cross the wire first, got elevated to be the winner because they were just savvy enough to lodge a complaint for somebody else, and the Stewards were stupid enough to fall for it. So we have the first disqualification from first in the 145 year history of the Kentucky Derby.

Anyway, the money is gone. So where do we go from here? Easy. Country House has to win the Belmont Stakes, and probably another championship for 3 year olds to prove he is not a total fraud. Maximum Security just has to come back and be equal with the rest, and will likely win the Eclipse for best 3 year old in the land (after all, he “should” still be undefeated). In the end, We have an illegitimate Kentucky Derby champion, and the Triple Crown season is lost. To the casual fan, See you guys in October for Breeders Cup where we hopefully don’t do THIS again.