Kentucky Derby winner Country House likely won't race again in 2019

Kentucky Derby winner Country House likely won't race again until 2020, according to trainer Bill Mott.

Mott said during in an interview on NBC Sports' live broadcast that Country House is vacationing for a couple of months and isn't expected to race again as a 3-year-old, backing up what he told reporters at Churchill Downs earlier in the evening.

Soon after being awarded the Kentucky Derby when first-place finisher Maximum Security was disqualified, Country House was treated for an illness. That caused him to miss the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and a run at the Triple Crown.

“He just wasn’t as eager to get into his training as he had been,” said Mott, per Horse Racing Nation and the Paulick Report. "We just felt like he wasn't moving as well as he should be. We had him checked out again, and I think the determination is that we probably need to give him more time. ...

"Right now, we'd have trouble making the Travers or the Breeders' Cup, and I don't believe we'd be able to get him back to the races in as good a shape right now as what we would have to have him to run at that very top level. To give him a fair chance and bring him back as a 4-year-old, we're going to give him a little extra time."

Read more:Maximum Security will return Sunday for first race since Derby 

Earlier:Horse racing commission asks court to toss lawsuit on Kentucky Derby DQ

Gentry Estes: 502-582-4205; gestes@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @Gentry_Estes. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: courier-journal.com/gentrye.