Prat's domination continues in high gear into new year
Flavien Prat has had so many afternoons with three or more wins at Santa Anita this month that it is easy for observers to expect such success.
“That won’t happen,” Prat said last weekend. “But I wish.”
The winter-spring season began on Dec. 26, and through Monday Prat was the dominant rider of the meeting with 29 wins, well clear of closest pursuers John Velazquez with 18 and Juan Hernandez with 13.
Prat won six races on Jan. 1, four races on Jan. 9, and had four three-win days from Jan. 7 to Jan. 16. He is not perfect. Prat did not ride a winner on the Dec. 31 or Jan. 16 programs.
The runaway success at the current meeting comes less than two months after Prat finished second to Hernandez at the autumn meeting at Del Mar in November. Hernandez had 17 wins to Prat’s 14, the only time in 2021 that Hernandez outfinished Prat at a Del Mar or Santa Anita meeting.
Prat won titles at the Santa Anita winter-spring and autumn meeting and the Del Mar summer meeting, all by at least 12 wins. Hernandez was second each time.
The season took its toll. Prat said he was worn down by the fall.
:: Win big at Santa Anita: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports and Betting Strategies.
“After the Del Mar fall meet, I kind of regrouped – 2021 was a long season,” he said. “I didn’t go on vacation. I had a few days out of the racetrack. I had the chance to refocus myself.
“At the end of the season, I kind of tailed off. It was a little stressful. Now it’s fun.”
There was plenty to think about away from racing. In November, Prat’s wife, Manon, gave birth to the couple’s second child, a son, Lenny. They have a 3-year-old daughter, Elena.
Life around the house is settling into a rhythm.
“It’s getting better,” he said. “November and December were a bit rough. Everybody is healthy.”
In December, Prat rode only four of the seven days of the Los Alamitos autumn meeting, winning five races, including a three-win day on Dec. 11. The following two weeks were largely spent working horses in preparation for the start of the current meeting.
“I came to the meet with a good mind,” he said. “I wanted to prepare myself for the beginning of the year, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to do well. Lucky enough, I got great support from trainers and owners. They really support me well, and it helps a lot.
“I’ve been getting on good horses so far.”
Prat’s book of wins include some of the most exciting horses in Southern California, namely Flightline, the undefeated 4-year-old colt. Flightline easily won his stakes debut and third consecutive race in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. Trained by John Sadler, Flightline has won three races by a combined 37 1/2 lengths.
“He’s shown a lot of talent,” Prat said. “It seems the sky is the limit. He’s super-talented.
“Every time you expect something good for him, he shows it to you. It’s good. He should have a bright future.”
Aside from Flightline, Prat has numerous other leading mounts, including the promising 3-year-old Sir London, who will have his stakes debut in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes on Feb. 6; Spielberg, who won an allowance race on Jan. 14 in a possible prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 5; and the mare As Time Goes By, who won consecutive Grade 3 stakes at Los Alamitos and Santa Anita in December and earlier this month.
In late March, Prat is expected to travel to the United Arab Emirates to ride Hot Rod Charlie in the Dubai World Cup.
For the most part, Prat will be based in California this year aside from travel for major stakes.
“Right now, I’m really happy here,” he said.
Prat, 29, has been nominated for the Eclipse Award for the first time as the nation’s outstanding jockey of 2021 along with Irad Ortiz Jr. and Joel Rosario. In 2021, Prat won 245 races and had mounts that earned $23.09 million, a career best. Last February, Prat switched agents, hiring Brad Pegram, who also represents Hall of Famer Mike Smith.
Prat described the Eclipse nomination as “really cool.”
“It’s a lot of work,” he said. “Brad did a good job. The 2021 season was a good season. Being nominated is a reward for a lot of work. When you have the chance to ride for the right people, it’s a big difference.”
Prat has minimal expectations that his name will be called at the award ceremony next month. Rosario led the nation’s riders with $32.9 million.
“He crushed it,” Prat said of Rosario. “It seems like he will win the Eclipse. We’ll try to get where I can win it someday.”