Kentucky Derby 2019 Results: Maximum Security Disqualified In Kentucky Derby First, Country House Wins

The Kentucky Derby 2019 results are in, and Country House won in a shocker.

The favorite, Maximum Security, crossed the finish line first, but after a delay of more than 15 minutes, it was determined that the horse committed a foul and impeded the 65-1 favorite Country House. Before Saturday, there had never been a Kentucky Derby winner disqualified in an on-the-track foul.

Going into the Kentucky Derby, the attention was as much on the horse not showing up in the final results. The favorite going into the week was Omaha Beach, but the horse was scratched after suffering an injury late in the week. Trainer Richard Mandella called the loss a “bitter pill to swallow,” especially after Omaha Beach had drawn a favorable staring position.

As the Courier Journal noted, the loss was especially difficult for Mandella as he is still seeking his first Kentucky Derby win, and Omaha Beach was riding high off a win in the Arkansas Derby.

“We came flying in here like we had it written on us, and it didn’t work,” Mandella said.

With Omaha Beach sidelined, the 2019 Kentucky Derby was seen as a wide-open race with no clear favorite. While past years have seen far-and-away favorites like American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify last year, this year there were at least five horses seen as potential winners.

Going into Saturday morning, horses Improbable, Tacitus, and Maximum Security all came in at 5-1 odds. Game Winner stood at 6-1 odds and Roadster was listed at 9-1 odds. By race time, Maximum Security had inched up to a slight favorite at 4-1 odds, but it was still considered an open race.

So Omaha Beach’s misfortune was likely a boon for Kentucky Derby bettors, leading to higher overall turnouts with no horse coming into the race greater than 4-1 odds.

The race itself took place under the uncertainty of May weather in Kentucky, with light rains throughout the day that turned into a downpour within an hour of the race. Though the heaviest of the rain had stopped by post time, the track that was fast in the morning turned soggy and sloppy by the time for the Kentucky Derby. Though it was not nearly as much as the 1.7 inches that fell on last year’s race, the weather likely had an effect on the results in this year’s Kentucky Derby and may have shifted an advantage to the mudders.

Track is Sloppy. Rain not showing any signs of letting up at this moment pic.twitter.com/sHhRDAbmKz

— Kentucky Derby Post (@thederbypost) May 4, 2019

Fans who want to see the full Kentucky Derby 2019 results and payouts can check out Sports Illustrated’s live rundown of the race.