Prat making sure he'll be ready to ride when racing resumes

A mandatory vacation was not what jockey Flavien Prat envisioned for early April. Similar to thousands of his racing colleagues worldwide, Prat’s season has been idled by the coronavirus outbreak.

Santa Anita, where Prat is leading rider at the winter-spring meeting, was ordered shut by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health on March 27 after the racetrack was deemed a nonessential business during the outbreak.

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As of Friday, there was no indication when Santa Anita would be allowed to resume racing. Prat has not ridden since March 22, the most recent day of racing at Santa Anita. He was at home midday on March 27, preparing to leave for the racetrack, when he was informed there would be no racing that afternoon.

Prat said Thursday he has spent the last week with family and taking it easy. That will change Monday.

“Next week, I’ll start working out,” he said. “I’ll be ready for whenever I need to be.”

Prat and his fellow Santa Anita jockeys cannot exercise horses during the coronavirus outbreak, Santa Anita announced last weekend.

Through March 22, Prat led all riders at the meeting with 45 wins, six more than runner-up Abel Cedillo. Santa Anita raced for five days from March 14 through March 22 with no spectators and a limited number of track employees in attendance.

“It seemed like they did everything they could to run races,” Prat said of Santa Anita management. “I was surprised we were able to run races. They did everything they could to keep racing and that was great.”

During the five racing days behind closed doors, Prat won seven races, two more than Cedillo and Jorge Velez. This was supposed to be the weekend of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and Grade 2 Santa Anita Oaks, but those races have been postponed until later in the meeting, which runs through June 21.

“I thought I was going to have a good week,” Prat said.

Instead, Prat and his colleagues wait, hoping that Santa Anita can resume racing sooner rather than later in an uncertain time.

“At least we are healthy,” he said. “That’s the main thing.”