Top California jockey Flavien Prat has switched agents, leaving a longtime arrangement with Derek Lawson to begin working with Brad Pegram. Prat, 28, confirmed the change in a brief conversation late Wednesday morning. Pegram is scheduled to begin working on behalf of Prat on Feb. 26. As a result, Drayden Van Dyke will no longer be represented by Pegram, who also books mounts on behalf of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. Agents in California can represent no more than two riders. :: Get Brad Free’s Betting Strategies for Saturday’s card at Santa Anita Prat has risen in prominence in recent years. He rode Country House to a controversial win in the 2019 Kentucky Derby after Maximum Security was disqualified from first for causing interference. In 2020, Prat ranked 11th in the nation with earnings of $11.9 million. In 2019, Prat ranked fifth with $19.6 million in earnings, a career best. A native of France, Prat is ranked fourth in the standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, with 19 wins, seven fewer than leader Juan Hernandez. In 2020, Prat won the riding title at the six-month Santa Anita winter-spring meeting for the second consecutive year, and was leading rider at the track’s autumn meeting. At Del Mar, Prat won the riding title last summer with 50 wins, including a record 15 stakes. Prat has won or tied for leading rider at four of the last five Del Mar summer meetings. “It was a tough decision to make,” Prat said. “I felt like it was time to make a change.” Prat described his relationship with Lawson as “a great one.” “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “He did a lot for me.” Van Dyke, 26, said on Wednesday that he has not determined who will book his mounts and left open the possibility that he could relocate to another circuit. He said he planned to spend a few days thinking of his options. Through Sunday, Van Dyke was tied for 11th in the standings with five wins at the Santa Anita meeting. Van Dyke said there were “no hard feelings” about his breakup with Pegram. “I totally understand,” he said. “I love Brad. We’ve done well together. It’s time for me to move forward with my situation and go from there. “I’ve been swamped with calls already. It’s up to me to decide what I want, who I want, and if I want to go somewhere else. There are a lot of options on the table. “It might be a good thing. I’m kind of in a stagnant point. Maybe this will propel things.” :: Enhance your handicapping with DRF’s Santa Anita Clocker Report Lawson has represented Prat since the jockey arrived from France to ride here on a full-time basis in the winter of 2014-2015. “I knew he had the talent,” Lawson said. “It’s just too bad. “I never thought I’d work with another rider again. I think he’s a Hall of Fame rider. Unfortunately, things come to an end.”