Country House was named the winner of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security was disqualified following a review due to an objection filed on behalf of the colt.
Maximum Security, which went wire-to-wire as the unofficial winner, nearly clipped heels with a few horses as he drifted outside on the final turn. He made it tough on War of Will, briefly blocking the horse’s path and potentially costing the horse a place.
Maximum Security wins the Kentucky Derby.. for now.. an objection has been called for and is under review
— Sports ON Tap (@SONTHighlights) May 4, 2019
Country House crossed the finish line second but wasn’t impacted as much as War of Will was. Country House filed an objection after the race, feeling a foul was committed, even though he actually benefited from the foul.
The stewards spent around 15 minutes reviewing the video and speaking with the jockeys involved before making a decision.
Maximum Security’s jockey Luis Saez admitted on NBC that his horse jumped on the turn as he got spooked.
“I lost my momentum after the turn,” Country House jockey Flavien Prat said in an interview with NBC, acknowledging he was affected by Maximum Security’s foul.
This is the first time in Kentucky Derby history that the horse who finished first was disqualified.
Maximum Security finished first (but was disqualified), followed by Country House, Code of Honor and Tacitus. War of Will, which was impacted the most by the foul, finished eighth.
