For those interested here is posting by Louisville TV news person T.G. Shuck on Facebook regarding the Derby DQ.
"Given the controversy of today's Kentucky Derby and being an avid follower of horse racing...I figured I would weigh in on the issue. Everyone is focusing on Country House, when he was nothing but the beneficiary of the DQ. Long Range Toddy, Code of Honor, and especially War of Will lost all chance to win and probably would have finished well ahead of Country House if not for having to check hard and lose all momentum. If you watch the race back, going down the back stretch Tyler Gaffalione was holding back War of Will with everything he had. He had TONS of horse and just as he was making his move at the head of the stretch, he dang near went down...and it would have been a potentially terrible accident with multiple trailing horses going down. I think War of Will at least finishes in the money if not for that. Yeah it stinks that it is the Derby, but it was a clear violation. I don't think people would be so up in arms if Gaffalione had logged the objection (rightly so) instead of Flavian Prat...who complained about being impacted when he clearly wasn't. I'm surprised this hasn't happened before. Feel free to agree or disagree. I understand both sides of it and I hate how the whole thing came down. It leaves on huge black mark on this years Derby!
I just watched the slow motion video of the incident again and War of Will was literally about to BLOW BY Maximum Security to his right...but had to totally check up to keep from going down. Country House just surged forward without breaking stride (along with Maximum Security) while War of Will and Long Range Toddy lost all forward momentum. As Maximum Security tried to get back in his original path, he over corrected to the left, pinching Code of Honor against the rail...thus costing him a chance to win as well. These are the fouls that caused the Stewards to make the disqualification on Maximum Security...thus gifting Country House the Derby just because he was able to avoid the trouble and get 2nd place. Country House was strictly the beneficiary of Maximum Security's DQ. The race was literally just inches from disaster. And to think people are up in arms about all the deaths at Santa Anita over the winter. Can you imagine multiple horses having to be put down on the track during the most famous horse race in the world? 😳. It would have set horse racing back for heaven knows how long and would have taken the industry a long time to recover from. PR nightmare! That's always been my greatest fear with that race and why they should limit the field to 14...like EVERY other horse race does in North America except for the Derby."