Prat completes big week with win on Bombard in Wickerr Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Flavien Prat continued his hot hand opening week at Del Mar by sweeping both stakes Sunday, concluding with a front-running victory aboard Bombard in the $90,904 Wickerr Stakes for older turf runners.

That win came an hour after Prat had captured the Grade 2 Eddie Read with Bowies Hero. The two stakes wins gave him five the first week of the meet out of the eight that were run. Joel Rosario won two, and Brice Blanc the other.

Prat’s high five came in races ranging from dirt sprints to turf routes, and he ended the first five days of the meet atop the jockey standings in overall wins, too, with 10, including a hat trick Sunday.

This has continued a terrific 2019 for Prat, who won the Kentucky Derby via disqualification on Country House and the Queen’s Plate with One Bad Boy, whom Prat was heading out of town to ride Tuesday in the Prince of Wales at Fort Erie.

“It’s been a great week,” Prat said after exiting the winner’s circle following Bombard’s race. “You don’t expect to win five stakes, but this is a meeting where you really want to do well.

“It’s been a great first half of the year,” said Prat, who ascribed his success to working even more horses than he usually does, and it’s not as if he was a sloth before.

“I’m breezing a lot more horses, staying a lot more active,” Prat said. “I feel like I need to ride more in the morning. I breeze a lot, and feel I’m doing better.”

In the Wickerr, Prat took Bombard ($9.20) right to the front and they led every step of the one-mile grass race, holding off favored Higher Power to win by a half-length. Le Ken was another 1 3/4 lengths back in third, then came, in order, Souter, Restrainedvengence, Double Touch, Blended Citizen, Tizarunner, and Law Abidin Citizen, who broke well behind the field.

Bombard covered mile on the firm course in 1:34.44. He had finished second in this race last year, but was off for 11 months after that before finishing sixth in the Grade 3 American Stakes on June 23 at Santa Anita in his lone prior start this year.

“The other day I got him to relax and at the three-eighths I didn’t have any horse,” said Prat, who said he decided the best course of action in the Wickerr was to head straight to the lead.

Bombard set fractions of 23.76 seconds for the quarter, 48.18 for the half, and 1:11.52 for six furlongs before smoking through the final quarter in 22.92.

The win was the fifth in 12 starts for Bombard, who is now 3 for 5 since being gelded in November 2017. He is trained by Richard Mandella.

Bombard, 6, is a son of War Front who is owned by a partnership of Claiborne Farm, Perry and Ramona Bass, and Adele Dilschneider.