Flavien Prat Rides to Second in Santa Anita's Joe Hernandez Stakes

Flavien Prat rode Sumter to a second-place finish in the Grade II Joe Hernandez Stakes at Santa Anita on Monday, December 29.

Mirco Demuro and Gas Me Up took the win at 13-1, denying Prat and Sumter the top spot.

Prat had earlier won the $100,000 Blue Norther Stakes turf mile for 2-year-old fillies with La Ville Lumiere.

The difference in purse money is significant for Prat, who is trying to cut into Irad Ortiz Jr's earnings lead of $40,488,707 to $40,229,713.

The second-place finish earned Prat $40,000, while the win would have given him $120,000.

Prat is booked to ride seven horses on Wednesday at Aqueduct, while Ortiz is not entered anywhere on December 31.

Prat leads Ortiz in stakes wins, with 75 to 65, and graded stakes wins, with 46 to 36.

Ortiz finished seventh aboard favorite Motorious in the Joe Hernandez after picking up the mount from injured Antonio Fresu.

Fresu is sidelined indefinitely after breaking a toe in an incident on Sunday.

Gas Me Up is trained by Peter Eurton, and La Ville Lumiere is trained by Michael McCarthy.

Prat's performance on December 29 has set him up for a strong run in the upcoming races, with a chance to close the gap with Ortiz.

The competition between Prat and Ortiz will continue to be closely watched, with Prat looking to take the lead in the national jockeys' battle.