As Derby review dragged on, time seemed to stand still

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They were slogging back around the clubhouse turn headed home with their muddy, untacked longshot, already thrilled with his gallant runner-up effort in the Kentucky Derby, when Churchill Downs track announcer Travis Stone’s voice came over the public address system: “Hold all tickets. There’s a rider’s objection in this race, and it concerns the top two finishers.”

And so they turned back around to wait near the finish wire. Just in case.

The Kentucky Derby took 2:03.93 to run. But the people closest to Country House were now in the midst of the longest 21 minutes and 57 seconds of their lives.

Exercise rider Marianne Scherer and groom Angel Barajas walked Country House in wide circles, continuing to cool him out, as assistant trainers Kenny McCarthy and Riley Mott stood nearby, accompanied by a handful of others in their barn’s group and a few photographers. Even with those in the Kentucky Derby crowd just yards away, continuing to buzz as the race replay played on a loop on the infield screens, it was relatively quiet. The bulk of the cameras and the post-race crowd were gathered about a sixteenth of a mile away at the end of the paddock tunnel to the track, where unofficial winner Maximum Security, still saddled, was circling with a track pony, where Flavien Prat and Luis Saez were speaking by phone to the stewards, and trainers Bill Mott and Jason Servis waited. Most of the eyes were on them. After all, no horse crossing the line first in the Kentucky Derby had ever been disqualified for an in-race infraction.

And so, the mood remained relatively loose for Country House’s inner circle, as the wait was spent dealing with the practical business of caring for a racehorse who had just turned in the most strenuous effort of his young life. Barajas wiped off the raccoon rings of mud around the colt’s eyes, as the rest of his face had been shielded by his blinkers. McCarthy went and got a bucket, and periodically offered him sips of water. But while that routine business was taking place, the wait dragged on longer – and the unprecedented began to seem possible. Just possible.

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“What’s that they say about the longer it takes?” Riley Mott asked the group rhetorically.

Dancer’s Image, disqualified from his 1968 Derby win because of a medication infraction, and Forward Pass, the beneficiary of the DQ, were idly discussed. Country House snorted and Scherer blew a breath back out at him sympathetically, her hand comfortingly on his neck. Churchill Downs racing secretary Ben Huffman walked down the track to the group and wondered where the horse’s tack was. Just in case.

Even veteran horsemen, who have seemingly seen it all, found it a first. Outrider Lee Lockwood, who was instrumental in averting disaster when catching Positive Spirit following the dramatic start of the Kentucky Oaks 24 hours earlier, leaned down out of his saddle and offered a handshake.

“I’ve never wished someone luck after the race before . . .”

Soon thereafter, Country House’s number went up on the board and Maximum Secuity’s disappeared, a first in Kentucky Derby history.

Barajas raised his arms in a V for victory, still clutching his colt’s lead shank as Country House raised his head and pricked his ears at the pandemonium suddenly surrounding him. His people were embracing, laughing in shock, mud sloshing in their wake as they sprinted back up the track. Riley Mott leapt in the air as he ran.

The outriders quickly rushed in to surround Country House, offering him a bubble of security as he was hustled back to the crowd waiting at the tunnel, then out onto the Churchill turf course, toward that winner’s circle that is used once a year. It was 7:16 p.m., and the Kentucky Derby winner had to be re-saddled and draped in roses.