Jockey Flavien Prat sidelined after positive coronavirus test

DEL MAR, Calif. – Coronavirus is wreaking havoc on jockeys, and Sunday afternoon the pandemic sidelined the top rider in Southern California.

Flavien Prat learned midday Sunday he tested positive, becoming the fourth jockey to test positive for coronavirus after riding July 4 at Los Alamitos. Victor Espinoza, Martin Garcia, and Luis Saez all tested positive after riding at Los Alamitos.

Scripps Hospital in La Jolla conducted Prat’s test after the jockey returned from Kentucky, where he rode in five stakes races Saturday at Keeneland. According to his agent, Derek Lawson, Prat did not have symptoms, but was tested at the request of Del Mar officials.

“It was the smart thing for Del Mar to do, to protect the local riding colony,” Lawson said. “They had better test every one of those riders who were in that room at Los Alamitos.”

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Lawson said Prat would be on the sidelines for at least 10 days, and would miss riding 2019 Pacific Classic winner Higher Power on Saturday in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap. Two other high-profile horses also have revised jockey assignments due to the pandemic.

Saez would have ridden Maximum Security; his replacement is Abel Cedillo. Espinoza would have ridden Midcourt; his replacement is Juan Hernandez.

Prat, runaway leading rider at the Santa Anita meet, is the nation’s seventh-leading rider by money won with purse earnings of more than $5.4 million. Prat, 27, was to ride favorite Super Patriot in the $65,000 Osunitas Stakes on Sunday; he was to be replaced by Hernandez.