ARCADIA, Calif. _ A year ago, jockey Flavien Prat was in a body brace recuperating from five broken vertebrae in his back and a punctured lung after a September spill at Los Alamitos. It forced him to miss the 2015 Breeders' Cup in Kentucky.
Now the 24-year-old French native is back with a vengeance. He has 10 scheduled mounts for this weekend's two-day event at Santa Anita, making it his first appearance in the Breeders' Cup.
"It is a special event," he said. "I have some pretty nice shots on horses who have improved a lot during the year."
Prat finished in a tie for first place in the jockey standings at Del Mar and has been gaining growing respect among top trainers in Southern California. He'll be riding horses for Bob Baffert, Richard Mandella and Phil D'Amato, among others.
He and two other former French-based jockeys, Julien Leparoux and Florent Geroux, have been making names for themselves in America with their riding skills and will be reunited this weekend.
Leparoux and Geroux have one advantage over Prat.
"I think they have the best English over me," he said. "I try to improve. It's my home now. I've been here for two years."
