Flavien Prat: Jockey Profile, 2025 Belmont Stakes

Key Takeaways:

• As one of North America’s top jockeys, Flavien Prat has set records in 2024 with 82 stakes wins and 56 graded-stakes victories, surpassing Jerry Bailey's 2003 single-season mark.
• He has won two Triple Crown races and seven Breeders’ Cup events, including a dramatic win in the 2024 Breeders' Cup Classic aboard Sierra Leone.
• Though he’s yet to win a Belmont Stakes, Prat has performed well in his four previous attempts, finishing second in 2021 with Hot Rod Charlie and third in 2024 with Sierra Leone.
• In the 2025 Belmont Stakes, Prat will ride Baeza, whom he guided to a third-place finish in the Kentucky Derby despite traffic trouble, showing strong closing ability.

Jockey Flavien Prat began his career in France. He did some brief stints in California while still based in France, and then moved tack to Southern California for the long run when the Santa Anita winter meet began at the end of 2014. In the ensuing decade, he has emerged as one of the best riders in the country.

Prat’s first victory at the top level came in 2013, when he won the Prix Marcel Boussac with Indonesienne. His first graded-stakes victory stateside came in May of 2015 when he rode Catch a Flight to victory in the Precisionist Stakes (G3), and his first Grade 1 win in the country came just a few months later when he won the Bing Crosby Stakes (G1) that summer with Wild Dude.

2024 was not only the best year of Flavien Prat’s career, but one of the best years any jockey has ever had, period. He had 82 stakes wins and 56 graded stakes wins during the year, both new North American records. The single-season graded-stakes mark surpassed the great Jerry Bailey’s tally of 55, which he set in 2003. He also led all American jockeys with over $37 million in purses that year, the first year he led in earnings. That season, Prat earned his first Eclipse Award for outstanding jockey.

Prat has won two Triple Crown races, as well as seven Breeders’ Cup events. He had his first year with more than one Breeders’ Cup win in 2024, when he rode Sierra Leone to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Moira to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. It was his second Breeders’ Cup Classic win of his young career—he also won the 2022 edition with the talented yet ethereal Flightline.

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Flavien Prat in the Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes is the only leg of the Triple Crown that Prat has yet to win, but he has ridden well in the race in each of his four outings. His first ride in the Belmont came in 2021 with Hot Rod Charlie. He finished second, still his best finish to date—1 ½ lengths behind winning favorite Essential Quality, but a full 11 ¼ lengths ahead of third-place Rombauer. He also hit the board in 2024 with Sierra Leone, who finished third behind Dornoch, and was fourth with both the lightly-raced We the People in 2022 and with Angel of Empire in 2023.

Flavien Prat in the Triple Crown

In keeping with his ascendant reputation as one of the best big-race riders in the world, Prat has been impressively consistent in the Kentucky Derby. He has ridden in the race eight times, and finished in the superfecta seven of those eight times. In a chaotic 20-horse race, that is a testament to his focus and adaptability.

Prat won the Kentucky Derby for the first time, and only time so far, in 2019 with longshot Country House. He was second at Churchill Downs two years later with Hot Rod Charlie. He has finished third in the race four times: with his first Kentucky Derby mount, Battle of Midway (2017), Zandon (2022), Angel of Empire (2023), and Baeza (2025). He also finished fourth in 2024 with Catching Freedom.

So far, Prat has the least experience in the Preakness, which he has only ridden in three times. The first time was the charm for him at Pimlico: in 2021, he rode the late-running Rombauer to victory for trainer Michael McCarthy. He returned to Baltimore three years later to finish third with Catching Freedom, and was also fourth this year with the lightly raced Goal Oriented.

Flavien Prat and 2025 Belmont Stakes Contender Baeza

Flavien Prat has less experience on his Belmont Stakes mount than many of the riders in the race have on theirs, but he did well with the one chance he had so far.

Interestingly enough, Prat was named on two different horses in the Kentucky Derby despite never having ridden either—Neoequos in the main field, and Baeza on the also-eligible list. He had first priority on Baeza if he drew in, and the Thursday defection of Rodriguez made that a reality. Baeza had previously been ridden by Hector Berrios in most of his races, including the final prep in the Santa Anita Derby.

In the Kentucky Derby, Prat settled Baeza well off of a torrid early pace. He made up ground around the turn, and though he got bumped around between traffic, Prat kept Baeza calm and moving. Baeza drifted out in the lane, as he’s still lightly-raced and green, but Prat had him in the clear, and Baeza finished with elan to cross the wire third, just a neck behind second-place Journalism.

Prat should be able to figure out how to get a good trip with Journalism, whether it’s well off the pace or a bit closer up. Baeza has been tactical in his previous races, and Prat has ridden often at Saratoga—and Prat won a Grade 1 at 1 ¼ miles over the course just last year, with Highland Falls in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

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