Prat setting the bar high for first Del Mar meet

Only the venue has changed this summer for Flavien Prat, the 22-year-old jockey.

Like last year, Prat is riding at a seaside resort track, has top mounts in important races, and has the goal of building on recent success.

Last year, all that occurred at Deauville, on the northwest coast of France. This year, he is based at Del Mar for the first time. If the first six months of this year are any indication, Prat should have a memorable summer.

Earlier this year, Prat won 19 races at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. He finished fifth in the standings at the spring-summer meeting there with 25 wins. That won’t be good enough at Del Mar, he said on a recent morning between workouts at Santa Anita.

“I was close to the top three at the last meeting,” he said. “I want to be top three at Del Mar.”

When Prat rides on Thursday’s opening day, it will be his first day of racing at Del Mar. In recent years, he has spent winter months at Santa Anita and the rest of the year riding at tracks in and around Paris.

The son of a harness racing driver, Prat won 295 races in France from 2009 through last year, ranking as high as 14th nationally in 2009. Last year, he won 58 races and ranked 18th in France. Even with that success, Prat announced last fall he was leaving to ride in California on a full-time basis this year. He arrived on this circuit last December.

Prat said it was time for a change. Asked if he misses France, he answers with a quick, “No.”

The travel from the training center in Chantilly, where he was based, south to Paris for racing on most days began to wear on him, he said.

“This life here is easy,” he said of California. “There, it can be an hour [to the races] and two hours home.”

Prat stays in close touch with his father, an avid follower of Thoroughbred racing. His girlfriend, Manon Lemaire, is an exercise rider in Southern California. All of that has helped the transition for a young man living abroad, albeit one familiar with this territory.

Prat rode his first winner in the United States at Santa Anita in January 2010 during a winter spent with trainer Richard Mandella. The Prat-Mandella relationship continues.

At Del Mar, Prat is scheduled to ride Bal a Bali in the $200,000 Del Mar Mile on Aug. 23 for Mandella. Prat rode Bal a Bali to a win in the Grade 3 American Stakes at Santa Anita in May and has a strong supporter in Mandella.

“He came to my barn to spend the winter when he was 18,” Mandella said. “He was good then, and he’s getting better.”

Prat had a breakthrough season at Santa Anita in early 2014, winning six races from 29 mounts. At the same time, he likely cost himself several mounts because trainers knew he would be returning to France. Now that he is riding in California year round, things are different.

Prat won the Grade 3 Precisionist Stakes on May 2 at Santa Anita on Catch a Flight, trained by Mandella. Prat won his richest race in the United States when Neveradoubt, trained by Mike Puype, won the $200,000 Snow Chief Stakes on May 23. Prat’s richest career win was aboard Indonesienne in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac on the undercard of the 2013 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp in Paris. The one-mile race for 2-year-old fillies was worth approximately $405,000.

To succeed in California, Prat has had to adapt to riding on dirt. He rode extensively on turf and Polytrack in France, but most of the races in California are on dirt. Not surprisingly, Prat has been in demand for turf races, but he has impressed trainers with his ability on the main track.

“He’s a new kid on the block, but he’s displayed how much talent he has,” trainer Doug O’Neill said.

“He gets horses to settle. What we’ve all been amazed at is the way he’s jumped into riding sprints on dirt. To me, he’s like a natural, whether it’s one turn on the dirt or two-turns on the grass.”

Thursday, Prat rides Royal Albert Hall for O’Neill in the $100,000 Oceanside Stakes on turf.

Del Mar is the high-profile meeting of the Southern California circuit, with top prize money and ample opportunities for jockeys to gain important mounts. Riders such as Victor Espinoza, Mike Smith, and Gary Stevens will be in action on a regular basis.

Prat is booked to ride eight of the 10 races on opening day and staying that busy over the 40-day season will give him a chance of reaching his goal of a top-three finish in the jockey standings. He has proven in the last six months he can meet such a challenge.