Flavien Prat had a very good day at Monmouth Park Saturday winning four graded stakes in a row including the Grade 1 United Nations. Earlier in the week, Prat also won a stakes race at Saratoga. The achievement earned Jockey of the Week honors. The award, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, honors jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
Riding at Saratoga on Thursday, Prat rode Practice Squad for the first time for trainer Joe Sharp. Practice Squad raced near the rear of the compact field of five saving ground then taking command at the furlong marker to hold off rivals Stop the Spread and Coinage to win by a head in 1:44.69 for the 1-1/16 mile race on the inner turf.
On Saturday, Prat traveled to Monmouth Park for TVG.com Haskell Day, the track's biggest day of the meet. For the first of Prat's four straight graded stakes wins, he was aboard Highly Motivated for trainer Chad Brown in the G3 Monmouth Cup Stakes. Highly Motivated rated off the pace before making his move leaving the backstretch to win by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:46.53, establishing a new Monmouth Park track record for 1 1/8 miles.
Riding again for Chad Brown, Prat's next graded stakes score was the G3 WinStar Matchmaker aboard Lemistra. Off as the fourth betting choice in the field of eight fillies and mares, Lemistra took the lead heading for home and held off stablemate Fluffy Socks to win in 1:47.07 for the 1 1/8-mile turf test.
Continuing his graded stakes win streak for Chad Brown, Prat was in the irons on Search Results in the G3 Molly Pitcher. Dominating the field of eight as the favorite, Search Results posted a three-length victory in 1:40.47 for a mile and one-sixteenth on the main track.
The dynamic pair of Chad Brown and Flavien Prat completed their string of graded stakes wins with Adhamo in the G1 United Nations. Off as the favorite in the 10-horse field, Adhamo came from off the pace to overtake stablemate Tribhuvan in the final eighth to win by 1 1/2 lengths in 2:12.68 for 11 furlongs.
Since leaving southern California last April where he dominated the standings for three years, Prat has made a smooth transition to the east coast and New York's stellar jockey colony riding for Chad Brown and other leading horsemen including Todd Pletcher. Nationally, Prat is in second place in purse earnings with more than $15 million and in the top 10 in wins.
Other contenders for Jockey of the Week were Florent Geroux who won the G1 Haskell, Juan J, Hernandez who won two stakes races opening weekend at Del Mar, Irad Ortiz, Jr. with two graded stakes, and Umberto Rispoli also with two stakes win at Del Mar.
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