Flavien Prat won the first Gr. I event of the Saratoga meet with a masterful well-timed ride aboard Excellent Truth in the Gr. I Diana earning Jockey of the Week for July 7-July 13 by the panel of racing experts for the second week in a row.
The weekly honor recognizes jockeys for significant riding accomplishments and who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.
On the heels of earning his first NYRA leading rider title at the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet as well as earning his 2,000th North American career win during the meet, Prat, the reigning Eclipse Award winner as Outstanding Jockey, has a goal to improve on his record-breaking 2024 Saratoga meet when he set new records for stakes wins (18) and graded stakes wins (14).
Toward that goal, Prat, 32, won the first three races on Thursday's opening day card and a total of six races for the week.
On Saturday, Prat was aboard 5-year-old Excellent Truth for five-time Eclipse Award trainer Chad Brown in the Gr. I Diana, a turf test for fillies and mares, four-years-old and up at one mile and one-eighth. After heavy rains in the morning, expected pacesetter Be Your Best was scratched leaving a field of five.
Breaking from post position four, Excellent Truth raced in second chasing Choisya with Luis Saez as post time favorite She Feels Pretty piloted by Hall of Famer John Velazquez raced in third. Midway on the far turn, Excellent Truth made her move with She Feels Pretty in pursuit. As Choisya faded, Excellent Truth and She Feels Pretty dueled down the stretch with a determined Excellent Truth just edging the four-time Gr. I winner in the final strides to post a head victory in 1:47.37.
Prat became the first jockey to win the Gr. I Diana three years in a row having won the last two editions aboard Whitebeam also trained by Chad Brown.
"We had a good trip," said Prat to NYRA publicity. "She was forwardly placed and then fell back. She Feels Pretty, turning for home, took the lead on me and just outran me going into the stretch, but my filly fought back. I think she needed every inch of ground to win the race."
Prat will be riding at Saratoga through Friday then at Monmouth Park Saturday for the mount on Goal Oriented for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert in the Gr. I Haskell. Prat will head to southern California to ride Nysos also for Baffert in the Gr. II San Diego Stakes at Del Mar on July 26.
Other nominees for Jockey of the Week include Paco Lopez with the most wins for the week with 10, Jose Ortiz who won the first division of the De La Rose opening day, Irad Ortiz, Jr. with a Gr. 3 win and nine wins for the week at Saratoga and Joel Rosario with a Gr. 2 win at Saratoga.
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