Ryusei Sakai updated his Instagram page on May 6th to comment on the closing stages in the home stretch in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished third on Forever Young.

In the stretch, Forever Young and Sierra Leone, who finished second, were running side by side in a prolonged duel. "I was certainly leaned on a number of times, and there were times when I actually lost my balance, However, I felt that Forever Young was able to run to the end because Sierra Leone came alongside me from the outside," he commented.

On social media sites, Sierra Leone's jockey Gaffalione was controversially accused of "stretching out his left arm to interfere", but jockey Sakai denied, "I have seen some people saying that Gaffalione grabbed my reins before the finish line, but that is not true."