The owners of Maximum Security have sued to reverse the horse’s disqualification from the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. They are also seeking the $1.86m winner’s share of the $3m purse, including $186,000 each for trainer Jason Servis and jockey Luis Saez.
The lawsuit filed by Gary and Mary West on Tuesday says that stewards and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission relied on insubstantial evidence. The suit also questioned a “bizarre and unconstitutional” process before and after Maximum Security’s disqualification. Maximum Security crossed the finish line first before being disqualified and dropping to 17th for impeding the path of several horses. Runner-up Country House, a 65-1 shot, was elevated to first.
An explanation of the historic inquiry ruling that disqualified Maximum Security, making Country House the @KentuckyDerby winner. pic.twitter.com/YZqqn4ucbJ
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 4, 2019
The KHRC last week denied an appeal of the disqualification and said that the stewards’ decision was not subject to appeal. The lawsuit says that due process was denied.
Saez was suspended earlier this week for “failure to control his mount and make the proper effort to maintain a straight course thereby causing interference with several rivals.” Saez says he did nothing wrong during the race. “I thought I never put anybody in danger,” Saez said after the race. “My horse shied away from the noise of the crowd and may have ducked out a little.”
The result caused huge controversy, with even the US President weighing in. “The Kentuky [sic] Derby decision was not a good one,” Donald Trump wrote on Twitter the day after the race. “It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track, actually, a beautiful thing to watch. Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur. The best horse did NOT win the Kentucky Derby - not even close!”