Kentucky Derby 2019: Country House Wins the 2019 Race

UPDATE, 7:17 p.m. ET: After a challenge that delayed results, Maximum Security was disqualified and Country House was named the new winner.

UPDATE, 7:12 p.m. ET: A challenge delayed the confirmed results. Maximum Security is the unofficial winner.

Country House won the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky Saturday.

The field only included 19 horses, marking the first time since 2015 that there was less than 20 horses in the Run for the Roses, CBS Sports reports. Hikal was a late scratch from the race thanks to a foot abscess. Omaha Beach, a morning-line favorite, was scratched Wednesday due to a breathing issue.

One of the favorites before the race was Maximum Security, who was listed at 9-2 after morning line odds were at 10-1. The horse is trained by Jason Servis, with Luis Saez as the jockey. He previously won the Florida Derby in March.

“He’s fresh,” Servis, whose bother John won the Kentucky Derby with Smarty Jones in 2004, told USA Today of Maximum Security. “He’s not a horse that’s been behind and finished eighth or sixth or third. I’ve been careful with the spacing of his races. Walking around here, we have to put a chain on him to keep him on the ground.”

Legendary trainer Bob Baffert has three horses in this year’s Kentucky Derby, and they all had good odds of taking home the crown this year. Game Winner’s odds were at 6-1, Improbable’s at 5-1 and Roadster’s at 9-1 before the race began.

Baffert’s horses have won five Kentucky Derbies, and he trained the last two Triple Crown winners, American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018). Justify won last year’s Kentucky Derby, before going on to win the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

Before the race, Baffert told CNN he was not sure which one of his three horses had the best chance to win.

“I’m not armed like I was last year,” he said. “Game Winner was a champion two-year-old, but I don’t know how the weather is going to affect him — he comes from off the pace and might have some traffic problems.”

Baffert later explained, “One day I like one and then I’ll change my mind. I think Improbable, we don’t know if he’ll get the mile-and-a-quarter — but that Game Winner he’s tough. I don’t know how good Roadster is. I don’t care which one wins as long as one does. I think this is a tough Derby, it’s wide open. There’s really nice horses in there.”

The other horses in this year’s field were Long Range Toddy, By My Standards, War of Will, Bodexpress, Tax, Code of Honor, Gray Magician, Tacitus, Country Horse, Cutting Humor, Spinoff, Win Win Win, Master Fencer, Plus Que Parfait and Vekoma.

The weather in Louisville also played a factor in the race. Just like last year’s muddy affair, it rained in the hours before, leading to a muddy dirt track for the horses.

Photo credit: Michael Reaves/Getty Images