ARCADIA, Calif. – Leading jockey Flavien Prat was among three riders who declined to ride Sunday’s ninth race on turf at Santa Anita, with Prat expressing concern about the condition of the course. Prat, Ryan Curatolo, and Drayden Van Dyke declined to ride. Replacement riders were unavailable at the end of the day for two of their mounts, stewards said. Countess Rosini, the early favorite scheduled to be ridden by Prat, and Everystepoftheway, Curatolo’s mount, were withdrawn. Daisake Fukomoto was a late replacement on Angel Nadeshiko, who was scheduled to be ridden by Van Dyke in a maiden special weight race at six furlongs. The field was in the saddling enclosure when the scratches were announced. In an interview after the race, Prat said the condition of the turf course had been an ongoing conversation among riders through the weekend. Prat rode the first four turf races on Sunday before opting not to ride the last. “To me, it’s slippery,” he said. “I didn’t feel safe riding. I don’t know why it is like this. To me, you can’t ride properly.” Through Sunday, Prat had 56 wins, well clear of Juan Hernandez and John Velazquez, each of whom were second with 26. :: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now! Conditions have been largely dry in Southern California the last month, with minimal rain. There was no rain over the weekend. Countess Rosina is trained by Jeff Mullins, who said he had two runners lose footing on the turf course this weekend – Fast Draw Munnings in Saturday’s $103,000 Pasadena Stakes and Hulk in Sunday’s sixth race for maiden claimers. “I’ve run two horses on it this weekend and they both slipped,” Mullins said. Fast Draw Munnings lost footing on the turn and finished last, Mullins said. Hulk was ridden by Van Dyke, who briefly lost his irons on the backstretch of a one-mile race. Hulk finished fifth of seven. Van Dyke said in a text message after Sunday’s program that he considered the course “unsafe for horse and rider.” The course was inspected by track officials late Sunday afternoon before the final race, which had six runners and was run without incident. Before the final race, a portion of the track was aerated, according to Aidan Butler, the track’s chief operating officer. Butler said the course will be inspected on Monday morning by track officials, jockeys and representatives of the Jockey’s Guild. He expressed confidence that the course was safe. :: Win big at Santa Anita: Get DRF Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports and Betting Strategies.  “There is nothing that would let me run races if the surfaces were not 100 percent,” Butler said. “The track was deemed safe. “If I thought there was anything wrong, there would not be horses out there.” Jockey Abel Cedillo rode three of the five turf races on Sunday, including the last, without incident. “I didn’t have any problems,” he said. “I saw a couple of horses slip. My horse were okay.” The late scratches occurred at the end of a day with heightened betting interest. The track had a mandatory payout in the 20-cent Rainbow pick six, which began with a carryover of $664,316 from Saturday. Bettors added $5,044,080 on Sunday. Countess Rosina was the 5-2 favorite when she was withdrawn. Multi-race tickets in the pick four, pick five and Rainbow pick six defaulted to post time favorite Ruby Ray, who finished fourth of six. Fluent ($12) won the final race. Turf races have become a vital part of Southern California racing in recent years, particularly at Santa Anita. At the current meeting, which began on Dec. 26, there have been 242 races, with 116 on turf.