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Prat Tests Positive For COVID-19 After Returning From Keeneland

Leading Southern California jockey Flavien Prat was taken off mounts at Del Mar on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day.

Prat arrived back in the San Diego area after riding six races at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday and was required to be tested under Del Mar protocols for jockeys who travel out of town. He was given a nasal swab test by Scripps Hospital in La Jolla and notified a couple of hours later he had contracted the virus, according to his agent, Derek Lawson. Track officials said Prat was at Del Mar when he was contacted by Scripps personnel but had not arrived at the jockeys' room yet.

Prat will be be sidelined a minimum of 10 days from Monday, according to track officials, meaning he could return as soon as July 24, provided he has no symptoms.

Del Mar officials said all jockeys and jockeys' room personnel will be tested prior to the next day of racing on Friday, July 17.

Prat is the fourth jockey to ride the July 4 card at Los Alamitos in Cypress, Calif., who since tested positive for COVID-19. On July 8, Martin Garcia was required to be tested in order to ride at Indiana Grand and came up positive. He had ridden at Ellis Park July 2, Los Alamitos July 3-4 and Prairie Meadows July 5.

On July 10, Luis Saez was taken off mounts at Keeneland after a test from the previous day was positive.

Saez flew to California to ride Uncle Chuck to victory for Bob Baffert in the Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby on July 4, then rode the July 5 card at Belmont Park. He was required to be tested by New York Racing Association officials prior to riding July 5 and tested negative. Saez then rode at Indiana Grand on July 8, at Keeneland on July 9, then rode the second race at Keeneland on July 10 before being notified of his positive test and removed from his remaining mounts.

Espinoza was tested after experiencing flu-like symptoms early in the week and was taken off mounts on Del Mar's opening day, July 10. He learned that evening he was positive for COVID-19.

“It is encouraging that in both cases our protocols worked,” Del Mar CEO Joe Harper said of Prat and Espinoza's positive tests. “We will continue to be vigilant to ensure the safety of the people who work here and live in our community.”

A July 2 article from the Harvard Medical School explains that testing for COVID-19 is not foolproof.

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Prat Latest Southern California Jockey to Test Positive for Coronavirus

According to his agent, Derek Lawson, top California rider Flavien Prat has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Because he left California to ride Saturday at Keeneland, Prat was required to take a test Sunday before being allowed to ride at Del Mar. The test results were positive and Prat had to take off all his mounts.

“These athletes, they know their bodies,” Lawson said. “When I picked him up at the airport, he said, ‘I think I have it.'”

Lawson said that Prat is feeling fine and will return to his home in the Los Angeles area to wait out the quarantine period.

Along with Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia and Luis Saez, Prat becomes the fourth jockey who rode on the July 4 card at Los Alamitos to test positive. For Saez, it cost him the mount on Maximum Security (New Year’s Day) in Saturday’s GII San Diego H. He will be replaced by Abel Cedillo, but trainer Bob Baffert told the Daily Racing Form that Saez will regain the mount once his quarantine period is over.

Prat, who was the leading rider at the 2019 summer meet at Del Mar, will also lose several important mounts and Lawson was quick to blame Los Alamitos for his predicament.

“All of this transpired at Los Alamitos,” Lawson said. “They were so careful at Santa Anita and then at Los Alamitos it was like the wild, wild west. They let everything get out of hand. We only went over there to ride Bellafina and for Baffert. They didn’t do anything. It was like, ‘Come on in, everyone is welcome.’ After how well everything went at Santa Anita, what a shame.”

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Can New Kids On The Block Challenge Prat’s Del Mar Dominance?

In the past two summer seasons at Del Mar the jockey title has been a duel between Flavien Prat and Drayden Van Dyke with each rider prevailing once.

It could happen again.

But Derek Lawson, agent for defending champion Prat, has noted the emergence of some ambitious newcomers on the Southern California circuit and cautions against jumping to a two-man conclusion for the 2020 season that starts today.

“It will be extremely competitive,” Lawson said by telephone Thursday. “I hope we (Prat) do well enough to win. But it's not a slam dunk for anybody.”

Prat tied Rafael Bejarano for the 2016 summer title with 38 wins, led the 2017 meet outright over Bejarano with 35, relinquished the crown to Van Dyke in 2018 by a 42-37 margin and grabbed it back, 42-32, over Van Dyke a year ago.

Prat, a native of Melun, France, who turns 28 next month, has maintained his Southern California circuit dominance and high national profile following a 2019 season in which he won the Kentucky Derby, via disqualification, and a meet-leading 10 stakes victories during the Del Mar summer. He won the Santa Anita winter-spring riding championship with 90 wins over the course of the COVID-interrupted December-to-June season.

Through Thursday, Prat ranks seventh nationally with 97 wins from 372 starters (26 percent) and purse earnings of more than $5.3 million according to Equibase statistics.

To stay at the top this summer, however, Prat will have to fend off a foursome that has put up some impressive 2020 numbers as well. A rundown, with statistics in parenthesis and comments from Lawson.

Abel Cedillo—(No. 14 nationally, 61 wins from 419 starts, 15%, $3.6 million in purses). “He's proven that the move down from Northern California last year was the right one for him and his family and he's in a position to continue to make his mark.”

Van Dyke – (No. 25, 35 for 212, 17 percent, $2.6 million). “He's always going to be at or near the top, especially here. He rides for Bob Baffert and will be on a lot of the very good 2-year-olds Bob breaks out here every year.”

Umberto Rispoli – (No. 27, 50 for 269, 19 percent, $2.5 million). The Italian champion, 31, a veteran of racing in Europe, Japan and Hong Kong decided to come to America and race at Santa Anita last winter. “He's a very good rider, obviously, and he adds an international flavor – with Flavien from France and him from Italy – to the meet.”

Juan Hernandez – (No. 31, 134 for 444, 30 percent, $2.2 million). “He follows the path of Cedillo last year and if you look at the statistics, he's No. 1 in the country for wins. So, obviously, he knows how to get the job done.”

Forty-two wins secured the title the last two years. Lawson, prone to set goals, hopes to book Prat on 50 winners this summer. He realizes it's a high bar.

“It's a shorter season and there won't be fans in the stands,” Lawson pointed out. “That's the same for everybody. The disadvantage for us could be going out of town, but I'm not looking to do it very often. It's going to take hard work, staying focused and some luck no matter what.”

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Through Starts And Stops Of Santa Anita Meet, Leading Rider Prat Stayed Focused And Fit

Flavien Prat won Santa Anita's riding title in a landslide. Going into Sunday's 12-race closing-day program at the Arcadia, Calif., track, the final numbers are a mere formality as Prat had an insurmountable 89-61 lead over runner-up Abel Cedillo after winning five races on Saturday.

He has no chance of breaking Laffit Pincay's record of 138 victories at a Santa Anita meet, set in 1970-71, but the 27-year-old Frenchman's achievement was a virtual fait accompli throughout the undulating “Races Without Faces” meet, especially after he won six races on the card May 17.

It's been a team effort.

Due to the pandemic, there were starts, stops and intermissions at the current campaign, so with regard to specific numbers such as wins, mounts and days raced at past meets, this was similar to the proverbial comparison of apples and oranges.

But considering the circumstances, Prat's agent, Derek Lawson, will take it.

“I don't know how Pincay won 138, even though he probably rode in more races and on more days,” said Lawson, agent six years now for reigning Kentucky Derby winner Prat. “As for us, it wasn't just what we endured, because the entire country endured a shutdown.

“Both Flavien and I stayed focused by watching races that were available to us, and physically, he trained as hard as he possibly could.

“He didn't slow down; just kept training and working out, riding the stationary bicycle in his garage 21 miles a day, swimming and using weights he purchased and had in his home.

“He also watched whatever old races that were available and kept his mind in the game. It was the same with me. We focused on one topic, and it was racing.

“I also maintained contact with trainers who were keeping their horses sharp, and one was Peter Miller at San Luis Rey. With guys like him, Richie Baltas, Richard Mandella and others, we had some good business when we came back. It was fun.

“Even so, I never thought we'd be riding at this level as far as win percentage (27), but one day led to another and it kept going on and on and on and it worked out really well.”

When it comes to deciding which horse to ride, both agent and rider put their heads together, for the most part.

“We talk about all the horses all the time,” Lawson said. “When it comes to the stakes races, there's greater discussion and a lot of communication between the two of us. It's not just me. I need help to choose in certain situations. It's not cut and dried.

“I'll tell him we have two horses here, what do we do in this situation? Sometimes he leaves it up to me, sometimes he says 'I've got no idea.' There's a lot of communication between the two of us. We have a common goal, to try and win racing titles from the beginning of the year.

“It's really a team effort.”

The team includes Santa Anita's racing department.

“They kept us informed,” Lawson said. “Chris Merz (Racing Director for Santa Anita's Vice President of Racing and Racing Secretary Steve Lym and his diligent staff) stayed in touch with me. We knew they were at the mercy of the (Los Angeles County) Health Department, but we appreciated that they kept us informed on a regular basis.

“Every week or two I would get in touch with them, knowing things were starting to loosen up a little bit. They did a great job having the condition book ready when we were able to get started again.

“It was a matter of extensive communication and making sure everyone was on the right page.

“It worked out great.”

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