The objection was upheld following an extensive 22-minute review and Country House was declared the winner after entering the race as a 65-1 longshot and taking home the race’s $1.86 million prize.
The news sent shockwaves throughout the horseracing community since no horse had ever been disqualified due to race riding in the event’s history.
On Monday, Maximum Security’s owner, Gary West, announced he planned to appeal the decision with Kentucky’s state racing commission.
“We are going to file an appeal today with the state racing commission,” West said while on NBC’sTodayshow. “Right after the race, I had the trainer call the stewards and very nicely ask them if they would be willing to visit with us after the races were over.”
West added, “I said, ‘We’ll stay here until 11, 12 o’clock at night, whatever you want,’ and they said, ‘Absolutely not, we won’t be showing the films until Thursday.’ We didn’t really have any alternative legally… the appeal has to be filed within 48 hours.”
Since the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission does not allow for appeals, there didn’t seem to be much hope for West and the disqualified horse.
On Monday afternoon, Fox News correspondent Matt Finn announced that the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission denied West’s hopes to get the decision overturned.
The announcement seemingly brings a swift end to a weekend of heartbreak and controversy.
Maximum Security will not be participating in the Preakness Stakes in two weeks, West told Today, solidifying that, even if the decision is reversed, he won’t be able to earn the Triple Crown.
“There’s no Triple Crown on the line for us, and there’s no reason to run a horse back in two weeks when you don’t have to,” he explained.
source: people.com
