Gary West on controversial Kentucky Derby finish: appeal, court likely

To understand how unimaginably heartwrenching the fallout from the Kentucky Derby became for the owners of Maximum Security, follow the roses.

As Gary and Mary West stood in the winner’s circle during a lengthy, uncomfortable delay — some say 22 minutes, others say 23 — the painful symbol of the most epic about- face in the 145 laps of the sport’s crown jewel was about to come.

When the stewards’ ruling flashed on the board and indicated that Maximum Security had been, in racing terms, “disqualified” from the win and tumbled to 17th, Churchill Downs Communications Director Darren Rogers began a slow, awkward walk.

The garland of roses, the visual representation of summiting horse racing’s mountain, already had been handed off to Mary West. Rogers had to reclaim them for Country House, a 65- 1 longshot elevated to the win amid gasps and boos from thousands.

The Wests let the roses go then. Now, it’s not nearly as easy.

Gary West told the UnionTribune via text that he planned to challenge the ruling in whatever way possible, arguing stewards “are forcing me to” due of a refusal to show him relevant video used in the decision “until Thursday.”

Regulations covering stewards cited and used by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission state that, “Findings of fact and determination shall be final and shall not be subject to appeal.”

When told about the regulation, West texted, “Just guessing, but I think we would appeal to the KY state racing commission and federal court.”

Meanwhile, the circus has moved on — to Baltimore and the Preakness. NBC has packed up the cameras. Horses are hitting airports. Tickets have been cashed. The clock on a situation as unsettled as it was unprecedented already may have struck midnight.

There are many who feel West should swallow the hardest of pills and simply walk away.

Think back to 1968, when the roses were stripped from Dancer’s Image after a failed drug test. According to a Washington Post story, owner Peter Fuller took the KHRC to court in a slog that covered nearly five years before Fuller walked away.

“When I saw the pictures of it, and that’s all I saw was pictures, it looked like they made the right call,” said Claude “Shug” Mcgaughey, the trainer of eventual runner- up Code of Honor, outside of his Churchill Downs barn Sunday. “… It’s obviously a lot easier in the third race at Aqueduct than it is in the Kentucky Derby when something happens.

“But they’re supposed to call them all the same.”

Other trainers lined up behind Mcgaughey’s determination that the stewards ruled accurately, including War of Will’s Mark Casse and Cutting Humor, Spinoff trainer Todd Pletcher.

Although iconic trainer Bob Baffert stopped short of saying Maximum Security should have retained the win, he told Sports Illustrated that the Derby should be weighed differently because the race is so rugged and unique. Translated: Akin to the unspoken rules of baseball, you accept the result, bruises, warts and all, on the first Saturday in May.

The debate will rage on. Even if it’s technically the right call — interference objections lodged by Flavien Prat (Country House) and Jon Court ( Long Range Toddy) — many will argue that, well, they always swallow the whistle in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. And so on.

Deconstructing it remains nuanced, without clear- cut right or wrong conclusions. Either you’re a rules- are- rules person or you stand firm that the Kentucky Derby is one of a kind and the best horse crossed the finish line first.

Maximum Security trainer Jason Servis said after the race: “I don’t think it changed the outcome of the race. It looks like something scared him in the infield, but I haven’t been able to watch it that close.”

Jockey Luis Saez, moments after exchanging a Kentucky Derby victory for what will be the most discussed 17th- place finish in race history added: “I never put anybody in danger” while acknowledging that he “may have ducked out a little.”

In basketball parlance, this was more than a “touch foul” but unlikely “flagrant.” Kentucky regulations, however, do not seem to make any distinction about intent or lack thereof.

Marc Guilfoil, executive director of Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, told the Louisville Courier- Journal that “I agree with the stewards 100 percent. It was the right call and the correct call. It wasn’t a popular call … but we avoided a complete catastrophe there.”

When informed that West was considered federal court, Guilfoil said, “If he does, this will stand … it’s pretty cut and dried.”

So, the most exciting two minutes in sports became the most jaw- dropping.

And apparently, it’s not over yet.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —