LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The next stop in the chase for the Triple Crown is the Preakness, though both Maximum Security and Country House remain noncommittal for the May 18 race following Maximum Security’s disqualification from the Kentucky Derby.
Owner Gary West said Sunday he is unsure whether to enter Maximum Security in the Preakness as he ponders appealing the historic decision.
West also said he realizes the appeals process could extend well beyond the upcoming race at Pimlico in Baltimore. And with Kentucky racing stewards’ ruling Maximum Security interfered with other horses that led to his disqualification, there might not be a point to racing the colt in the Triple Crown series’ middle jewel.
“When you’re not going for the Triple Crown, sometimes it doesn’t make sense to wheel the horse back in two weeks,” West said.
“If there’s going to be an appeal it will almost certainly be before the Preakness, but appeals historically take some time to sort out. Win, lose or draw, we’re not going to know the outcome of that until probably months, if not years, down the road.”
West said the earliest he could see the stewards’ video evidence would be Thursday, which could determine if he files an appeal in a process he was still trying to understand.
“We wanted to have the stewards explain to us what they saw and show us on their video the pictures of exactly what they saw, and they refused to allow us to do that,” he said.
“That was really pretty bush league, because there is no rule that they can’t show the film to the owner and trainer that got disqualified for the first time in the history of the Kentucky Derby other than they aren’t working [Sunday], or Monday, or Tuesday or Wednesday.”
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