Kentucky Derby winner Country House to sit out rest of year

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Country House, the 2019 Kentucky Derby winner via disqualification, is finished racing for the year, trainer Bill Mott said Saturday night during the Downs After Dark program at Churchill Downs.

Mott said he was dissatisfied with the way Country House had trained and acted at Churchill and after the colt was shipped to Saratoga on Wednesday. Country House missed the Preakness and Belmont Stakes with a minor illness and had been in light training at Churchill for about two weeks before being sent north. The colt will be turned out for 60 days, if not longer.

“We’re just going to give him a little extra time,” said Mott. “We brought him back, and he was happy. When we began seriously training, he wasn’t as eager to begin his work. I think we just need to give him a rest.”

To polite applause, Mott and the ownership partners in Country House were presented with their engraved trophies in the Churchill winner’s circle following the third race Saturday. Country House was awarded his Derby victory on the disqualification of first-place finisher Maximum Security by the Churchill stewards, thus becoming the first horse in the 145-year history of the race to win because of an ontrack infraction. His owners are Maury Shields, Guinness McFadden, and the Roth family of LNJ Foxwoods.

Country House, a chestnut colt by Lookin At Lucky, is not being retired, as Mott and the owners intend to race him again at 4. The most recent Derby winner never to run again was Grindstone in 1996.

In all, Country House has won two of seven starts. Leading up to the Kentucky Derby, he was second in the Risen Star, fourth in the Louisiana Derby, then third in the Arkansas Derby.