Prat has a chance to sneak into the top 10 in rider standings
Jockey Flavien Prat will ride four days of the 31-day summer season at Del Mar and, though it seems extraordinary, might sneak into the top 10 in the standings before the meet closes on Sunday.
Prat won four races from eight mounts last Saturday, his only day of riding at the meeting. One of those victories came aboard Flightline, who won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic by 19 1/4 lengths.
Prat is booked to ride at Del Mar Friday through Sunday, with six mounts on Friday and nine on Saturday. Entries for Sunday were being drawn on Thursday.
There are six stakes at Del Mar over the final three days, including two Grade 1 races and one Grade 2 race. Prat was available to ride at Del Mar this weekend because there is no racing at his base in New York prior to the start of the Belmont-at-Aqueduct meeting on Sept. 15.
Prat will need multi-win days from Friday through Sunday to reach the top 10. Through Thursday, Mario Gutierrez ranked 10th in the standings with nine wins at the meeting, which began on July 22. Juan Hernandez leads all rider with 45 wins.
Prat has an attractive book of rides on Friday and Saturday. Of Prat’s six mounts on Friday, four are on morning-line favorites.
On Saturday, Prat has leading chances in the Grade 2 John Mabee Stakes with Going to Vegas and in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf on the Irish import Thebestisyettobe. He also is aboard contenders in several overnight races, including Speed Boat Beach in the sixth race, Moose Mitchell in the 10th and Kitty Katana in the 11th.
In Saturday’s Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, Prat rides the maiden Ice Dancing.
Prat was the leading rider at the Del Mar summer meeting on five occasions from 2016 to 2021. He announced earlier this year that he was relocating to the East Coast in an effort to improve his chances to win the Eclipse Award as the nation’s leading rider. Prat was a finalist for the award in 2021, but lost the balloting to Joel Rosario.
At the Saratoga meeting, which ended last Monday, Prat finished in a tie for second in the standings with Luis Saez with 40 wins, 15 behind leader Irad Ortiz, Jr.