Tyler Gaffalione
has been ordered to a video session with stewards Thursday to review his
homestretch ride on runner-up Sierra Leone and the contact he made with third-place
finisher Forever Young near the finish of Kentucky Derby 2024.

“Following
the race, the stewards ordered Tyler Gaffalione, jockey aboard Sierra Leone, to
film review on (Thursday),” a Kentucky Horse Racing Commission spokesperson
said in a written statement. “The stewards conduct film reviews routinely to
review the conduct of jockeys during a race. The stewards in their discretion
can take disciplinary action against a jockey following the review.”

“This is
routine practice,” Gaffalione’s agent Matt Muzikar said Monday afternoon. “They
do this all the time.”

Head-on video
of the finish showed Gaffalione to the outside on Sierra Leone reaching to his
left and maintaining contact for about two seconds with jockey Ryusei Sakai on
Forever Young. According to agent Matt Muzikar, Gaffalione lost his balance as
he tried to keep Sierra Leone from drifting inward as they approached the
finish line.

The two
horses finished a nose apart chasing Mystik Dan, who was racing along the rail
to the inside en route to winning by a nose over Sierra Leone. Mystik Dan,
ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., was not involved since he made no contact with either horse as his lead
was dwindling.

Stewards routinely
took nearly four minutes to examine the finish-line photo and post the order of
finish and then, not so routinely, another seven minutes to declare the race
official. There were no objections and no inquiry.

“The stewards
review every race in Kentucky live and by video replay before posting it
official, and they followed the same procedure for the 150th running of the
Kentucky Derby,” the KHRC spokesperson’s statement said. “After conducting
their standard review of the race, determining no further review or
investigation was necessary to conclude there were no incidents that altered
the finish of the race, and seeing there were no objections filed, the stewards
posted the Kentucky Derby official.”

Muzikar said Monday
a closer review of the video showed Sakai initiated contact with Gaffalione’s left
boot, knocking him off balance. Forever Young’s racing manager conceded the
two horses were in a physical battle the length of the homestretch.

“They were
fighting together all the way, not just at that moment,” Hiroshi Ando said
Sunday. “When they got to the top of the straight, they were fighting all the
way to the wire. This is racing.”

The KHRC
statement did not say whether Sakai also was summoned for a video review. The commission
spokesperson was asked about that but had not yet responded Monday afternoon. Even
though he was on his way back to Japan on Sunday, Sakai could have been asked for
his input directly or through a representative.