flavien prat | Horse Racing Free Tips

Prat Chooses Angel of Empire as His Derby Mount

It was likely a difficult decision, but Flavien Prat has chosen to ride GI Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire (Classic Empire) over GII Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns (Uncle Mo) in this year's GI Kentucky Derby.

The news was confirmed by trainer Brad Cox, who said he has received assurances from Prat and his agent Brad Pegram that the French-born riding star will be aboard Angel of Empire in the Derby.

“Yes, Prat will ride Angel of Empire in the Derby,” Cox said via text. “We're excited that Flavien is sticking with Angel of Empire. If we can duplicate his run in the Arkansas Derby, we believe that it would be an effort that would make him very competitive in the Kentucky Derby. We're looking forward to May 6.”

After Cox used four different jockeys in Angel of Empire's first five races, he landed on Prat for the Apr. 1 Arkansas Derby and the result was a 4 1/4-length win. The Pennsylvania-bred could be the second choice in the Derby behind Forte (Violence).

Prat will also ride likely GI Kentucky Oaks favorite Wet Paint (Blame) for Cox.

Kingsbarns, who is trained by Todd Pletcher, is undefeated in three starts. After using Luis Saez and Antonio Gallardo, Pletcher went to Prat for the Louisiana Derby and the result was a 3 1/2-length front-running win.

Reached by text, Pletcher said he has yet to secure a rider for Kingsbarns, but several top jockeys should be available.

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Hernandez, D’Amato Top Santa Anita Standings

Juan Hernandez was the leading rider and Phil D'Amato topped the trainer's list at Santa Anita's 43-day Classic Meet, which concluded Sunday. Tim and Mark Cohen's Rancho Temescal and Red Baron's Barn were the meet's leading owners.

Hernandez, a 31-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico won four races on opening day and never slowed down, adding two races on closing day Sunday to give him 63 victories for the meet, more than double that of runner-up Flavien Prat's 31.

In the all-important stakes-won category, it was Hernandez leading Prat 13 to 11, helping him to top all riders by purse money-won with $4,672,374.

D'Amato won 32 races, five better than Bob Baffert and D'Amato finished with 11 stakes wins, second to Baffert's 12.

A 57-year-old native of San Pedro, CA, D'Amato earned his third consecutive Classic Meet (formerly Winter/Spring) title and his fourth overall at Santa Anita.

The Cohen family's Rancho Temescal and Red Baron's Barn won 13 races, five of them stakes.

Santa Anita's first-ever Hollywood Meet will open Apr. 21 and run through June 18.

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Maker’s Mark Bourbon Keeneland Bottle to Benefit LexArts Public Art Project

Maker's Mark Bourbon Keeneland commemorative bottles will be available at stores throughout Kentucky Friday, celebrating opening day of the Keeneland Spring Meet. Fewer than 10,000 of the limited-edition bottles of bourbon will be available and are expected to sell out in one day.

Through a strategic partnership with LexArts, greater Lexington's premier cultural development, advocacy and fundraising organization, the proceeds from this year's commemorative bottle release will benefit the creation of a permanent public art legacy project. Miniature bronze horses will be creatively placed through downtown Lexington to create an interactive tour that heralds past and present stories of Kentucky culture.

For the third year, the commemorative bottles will showcase three distinct label designs featuring the work of artists Sandra Oppegard, Andre Pater and Tyler Robertson. The label art depicts winning jockeys from the 2022 Breeders' Cup World Championships held at Keeneland. Each label is signed by the artist who created the design, plus Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin and Eighth Generation Whisky Maker & Maker's Mark® Managing Director Rob Samuels. The labels will also be signed by one of three winning jockeys from the Breeders' Cup World Championships: Flavien Prat (Classic), Tyler Gaffalione (Juvenile Fillies and Turf Sprint) and Hall of Famer John Velazquez (Distaff).

“Keeneland is proud to team up with Maker's Mark and LexArts on this unique initiative to celebrate public art and Central Kentucky's signature horse industry,” said Arvin. “We all share a mission to enhance life in the local community, and supporting the arts is fundamental toward that goal.”

Maker's Mark and Keeneland have collaborated on a commemorative bottle release for 26 years, raising millions of dollars for a variety of worthy causes throughout Central Kentucky.

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Godolphin Repeats as Top-Earning Owner, with Ortiz and Brown Also on Top in 2022

Godolphin, LLC, which campaigned 14 North American graded stakes winners, was the country's leading owner by earnings for the second year in a row, while jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. established single-season earnings and stakes wins records and Chad Brown was the leading trainer by earnings for the first time since 2019, according to figures released Tuesday by Equibase Company LLC.

Godolphin had 88 North American wins from 438 starts for earnings of $16,343,067, down from its single-season earnings record of $17.4 million set in 2021.

The operation was followed on the leading owner's list by: Klaravich Stables, Inc., $9,438,582 (84 wins/336 starts); Peter M. Brant, $7,772,253 (54/183); Winchell Thoroughbreds, $5,661,750 (33/147); and Juddmonte, $5,633,762 (38/144).

Ortiz reached the winner's circle 325 times from 1,363 mounts in 2022, establishing a single-season earnings record of $37,075,772, eclipsing the previous record of $34.1 million he set in 2019.

Ortiz also set a single-season record for stakes wins with 80 trips to the winner's circle, breaking the former mark of 76 victories set in 2007 by the late Garret Gomez. Ortiz was the leading jockey by earnings for three consecutive years (2018, 2019, and 2020) before finishing second in 2021.

Following Ortiz on the leading jockey's list was: Flavien Prat, $29,832,252 (236 wins/1,013 starts); Joel Rosario, $29,250,139 (185/915); Tyler Gaffalione, $27,360,825 (1,491/266); and Luis Saez, $24,339,905 (272/1,540).

Brown sent out the winners of 244 races from 309 starters with 922 starts for earnings of $31,057,362 in 2022. Todd Pletcher was second on the leading trainer's list with 2022 earnings of $30,482,937 (223 wins/342 starters/1,020 starts); followed by Steve Asmussen, $28,579,134 (382/594/2,155); and Brad Cox, $23,851,590 (222/326/916).

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