The Kentucky Derby is less special after Saturday, Dan Wolken writes.
CLOSE SportsPulse: In a historic finish, Country House won the Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security was disqualified. USA TODAY Sports' Dan Wolken breaks down the chaos. USA TODAY
That horse was Maximum Security, and now he’s the poster boy of the biggest controversy in the history of American horse racing — an outcome horse racing didn’t need amidst a months-long public relations debacle resulting from 23 horse fatalities in California over the winter, and, frankly, wasn’t warranted under the circumstances of the race.
But there’s a reason the Derby, which is always a roughly run race with plenty of bumping and jostling throughout, has never had a winner disqualified due to interference: Unless the foul was egregious enough to clearly change the result, the horse that finished first under the wire should stand.
“We had a lengthy review of the race, we interviewed affected riders and we determined the 7 horse drifted out and impacted the progress of No. 1 , in turn interfering with the 18 and 21 ,” Chief State Steward Barbara Borden said. “Those horses were all affected, we thought, by the interference, and therefore we unanimously determined to disqualify No. 7 and place him behind No. 18.”
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