Donald Trump has claimed the result of this year’s Kentucky Derby was a result of “political correctness” after the winner was disqualified for obstructing other horses.
Race favourite Maximum Security crossed the line first but after a 20 minute consultation, judges handed the coveted title to Country House.
The president posted a tweet expressing his outrage at the decision, saying: “The Kentuky Derby decision was not a good one. It was a rough and tumble race on a wet and sloppy track, actually, a beautiful thing to watch.
“Only in these days of political correctness could such an overturn occur. The best horse did NOT win the Kentucky Derby - not even close!”
Trump didn’t explain the role “political correctness” played in the decision but his apparent anger at a winner found to have broken the rules being disqualified led some to compare the situation to his 2016 presidential election.
Such was the nature of the tweet that at least one Trump parody account appears to have given up.
After the race, Code of Honor was bumped up to second and Tacitus third.
“No words can describe this. It’s amazing,” Country House jockey Favien Prat said after learning he had won his first Kentucky Derby.
“I really lost my momentum around the turn,” he said of Maximum Security’s foul, which came when the colt veered from the rail just as several horses were gaining ground on the leader.
The result spelled heartbreak for Maximum Security trainer Jason Servis and jockey Luis Saez, who thought they had won their first Derby before a 20-minute video review changed the outcome.
Servis and Maximum Security owner Gary West told Sports Illustrated they planned to purse any available appeals to protest the disqualification.