A pair of scratches were necessitated in Sunday's finale at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. when jockeys Flavien Prat, Drayden Van Dyke, and Ryan Curatolo declined to ride in the six-furlong turf contest for maiden 3-year-old fillies. According to the Daily Racing Form, the jockeys made that decision based on the condition of the turf course.
“To me, it's slippery,” Prat told DRF. “I didn't feel safe riding. I don't know why it is like this. To me, you can't ride properly.”
Prat was originally scheduled to ride morning-line favorite Countess Rosina, who had to be scratched when no replacement rider could be found. Everystepoftheway, scheduled to be ridden by Curatolo, was also withdrawn. Daisuke Fukumoto picked up the mount on Angel Nadeshiko in lieu of Van Dyke. The scratches were not announced until the field was in the paddock.
Jeff Mullins, the trainer of Countess Rosina, told DRF that two of his runners on the turf course this weekend had slipped. One of those incidents saw Van Dyke lose his irons on the backstretch.
The Stronach Group's Aidan Butler told DRF he believes the track is safe.
“If I thought there was anything wrong, there would not be horses out there,” Butler said. “The track was deemed safe.”
The mandatory payout of the 20-cent Rainbow pick six was adversely affected by the late scratches. When Countess Rosina was scratched, she was the 5-2 favorite. Multi-race tickets defaulted to the post-time favorite, Ruby Ray, who finished fourth.
Read more at the Daily Racing Form.
The post ‘I Didn’t Feel Safe’: Prat, Two Other Jockeys Refuse To Ride On Santa Anita Turf In Sunday’s Finale appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
