Country House has pulled off a huge upset in the Kentucky Derby as stewards awarded the 65-1 long shot the victory following an objection that Maximum Security, the first horse to cross the finish line, interfered with the path of several horses.
Maximum Security had appeared to win the 145th Derby by 1¾ lengths in the mud after taking control out of the final turn at Churchill Downs. The objection was filed and stewards took about 20 minutes reviewing the race from several angles before declaring Country House the winner.
Jockey Flavien Prat then celebrated as the finish was announced to the surprised crowd of 157,729.
Code of Honor (14-1) finished second after the disqualification, followed by Tacitus (5-1) and Improbable (the 4-1 favorite).
It was the first time the horse crossing the line first in the Kentucky Derby has been disqualified.
Maximum Security, the 9/2 second-choice favorite ridden by Luis Saez, finished in an unofficial 2:03.93.
Maximum Security had won all four races he’d entered prior to Saturday.
Heavy rains leading up to post time led the track being downgraded from fast to sloppy.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.