He Won and Lost the Kentucky Derby. He Can’t Stop Watching the Replay.

“He ran up on my horse,” Saez told himself. “There was no way they were going to take me down.”

Saez was wrong. The stewards determined that Maximum Security had interfered with other horses. The runner-up, Country House, a 65-1 shot, was declared the winner. Instead of notching a career achievement, Saez became the rider of the only Derby winner to be disqualified for interference.

“That’s horse racing,” said Maximum Security’s owner, Gary West, as he was leaving the winner’s circle. “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you win and you lose all in the same race.”

By the next morning, West had changed his tune. He filed an appeal with Kentucky horse racing officials. It was denied. In the months since, West has unsuccessfully pursued a reversal in the courts.

On the first Saturday of December, after Maximum Security won the prestigious Cigar Mile at Aqueduct, Servis, too, could not hide his disappointment.

It didn’t matter that his colt has won seven of nine races for more than $1.8 million in earnings. He would trade them all for the feeling he had when Maximum Security had seemingly delivered him his first Derby victory.

“I’ve got to hold back tears,” Servis told reporters afterward. “He’s special, that horse. It’s just a shame because he was the best horse in the Derby.”

Saez was suspended for 15 days for failing to control his mount. He has appealed the penalty, so he has not had to serve that suspension yet. In June, New York regulators suspended him for seven days for a bumping incident at Belmont Park.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/23/sports/luiz-saez-kentucky-derby-maximum-security.html?emc=rss&partner=rss