Prat picks up mount on Effinex for Breeders' Cup Classic

ELMONT, N.Y. – Trainer Jimmy Jerkens and stable manager Russell Cohen confirmed that Flavien Prat will ride Effinex in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Prat, the second-leading rider at the Santa Anita meet with 11 wins from 50 mounts, replaces Mike Smith, who is riding Travers winner Arrogate.

Prat tied Rafael Bejarano for leading rider at Del Mar.

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Cohen, stable manager for his family’s Tri-Bone Stable, said Prat is a quiet rider with soft hands, “and that’s what this horse needs.”

Effinex, second to Hoppertunity in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup on Oct. 8, finished second to American Pharoah in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Jerkens said that both of his Classic horses, Shaman Ghost and Effinex, would ship to California on Oct. 26 and that each would have one work at Santa Anita.