The horses at the front of the field round the turn and approach the stretch in the 2019 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. (Eclipse Sportswire)
According to the official Equibase chart: Following the Stewards review MAXIMUM SECURITY was disqualified from first and placed seventeenth for veering out and stacking up WAR OF WILL, LONG RANGE TODDY, and BODEXPRESS.
The disqualification was the first in the 145-year history of the Kentucky Derby and sparked much debate at the racetrack, among analysts, and on social media.
Read on to find out what the trainers and jockeys had to say about a oughly run Derby held on a sloppy main track
“You know, as far as the win goes, it's bittersweet. I would be lying if I said it was any different. You always want to win with a clean trip and have everybody recognize the horse as the very good horse and for the great athlete that he is. I think, due to the disqualification, probably some of that is diminished. But this is horse racing.”
Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, after winning the 2019 Kentucky Derby with Country House via disqualification
“It's a great moment. It's a dream come true. Coming from Europe, Breeders' Cup was a bigger deal for me. But as soon as I rode the first year here, I was in the grandstands and I watched this race, and it's amazing. I mean, there's no race like the Kentucky Derby. And I was hoping to one day ride it, ride the Derby, and to win it. And it's done today. I'm really happy and blessed.”
“I don't think it changed the outcome of the race. It looks like something scared him in the infield, but I haven't been able to watch it that close.
“I feel bad for the Wests. I feel bad for the owners, the Wests. It looked like he ducked out a little bit. … It is tough. It hasn't sunk in yet, but it will.”
“My horse ran a huge race. We were a little unlucky since the pace didn’t collapse. Those were good horses in the lead. Country House ran a huge race, too. My horse was digging in late. I had no excuse. In the Belmont [Stakes], he will be much better running 1 1/2 miles.”
“I told them that was the horse to beat [Maximum Security]. I told him be thankful you didn’t lose him for $16,000 or else you’d be throwing up all over you horse right now.”
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Kentucky Derby five times
“The field never got separated they were all right there. It was like a kids’ soccer game, they were all right there. I knew the first quarter of a mile I knew I was toast. The problem is [Improbable] couldn’t get out, the six [Vekoma] wouldn’t let him out. He could not get out. I told my riders to stay clean, they don’t listen to me.”
“I thought he was going to be sharper at the gate. He broke OK but he stayed there for a little bit. I tried to push him a little early. I thought I was going to be OK because they were going fast at the beginning but he struggled the last three furlongs. He also had a little trouble with the track.”
“He didn’t break that well, but we knew he’d break slowly. He made a huge effort in the stretch. I’m really pleased with how we finished so close to the other quality horses in the race. Great effort by horse and rider. If he comes out of this well, I want to take him to the Belmont [Stakes] next.”
Trainer Koichi Tsunoda after finishing sixth with Japanese invader Master Fencer
“Yeah, we got bothered too. We almost clipped heels with [Maximum Security]. We got excited. The horse ducked out and that’s when we nearly clipped heels. Tyler [Gaffalione] said he felt great. He said if he could have gotten him to relax a little he thought he would finish a little better. I have to talk to [owner] Gary [Barber] about [the Preakness], but maybe.”
“I’m thrilled with him. I thought he ran his heart out. I couldn’t ask for anything more. He ran his race. He had as good a trip as you’re probably going to get. He’s not beaten very far at all and went all the way to Dubai and came back and ran his race. For a second thought it could maybe happen and he gave me a thrill. He showed he could run with these horses. He was no 54-1 shot.”
“We got the trips we wanted to get with them. Spinoff was forwardly placed and Cutting Humor was following behind him. Spinoff just hated the track, though. He didn’t really want any part of it. I had a hint about that earlier in the week when he galloped on the ‘off’ and showed us he didn’t care for it. When Manny [Franco] went to riding him today, he just backed right out of there. Cutting Humor had a good trip and closed some ground late. He didn’t disgrace us. Both colts seemed to come back fine. We’ll be back another day.”
“I was able to get into a good spot after breaking that far wide. We were in a good spot in the far turn but I had to check pretty hard after the seven [Maximum Security] came out.”
“I am disappointed to be honest. He broke all right but never traveled down the stretch the first time. He started picking up horses down the backside, but when I hit the half- mile pole, I was just out of horse. I am not sure if he didn’t like the track but it felt like he never ran.”
“It was very unfortunate that it rained. He doesn’t do well on an ‘off’ track. But he was in a good position and then, as we know, the race got real rough.”
Steve Asmussen, trainer of Long Range Toddy (16th), who was impacted by the contact on the turn while racing outside of War of Will
“Well, at least I am still the oldest rider ever to ride in the Derby. It was a lot of fun but I had to stop very abruptly.”
