BALTIMORE – There’s something more tangible, more solid, more exhilarating, about actually crossing under the wire in front of everyone else. Yes, Flavien Prat won the 2019 Kentucky Derby when Country House was declared the winner via disqualification, but the unbridled joy he experienced Saturday in winning the Preakness made this brand new territory. Ooh la la, indeed. “It does feel different,” Prat said on the NBC telecast moments after guiding Rombauer to a 3 1/2-length triumph in the 146th Preakness at Pimlico. “Oh, what a feeling.” The 1 3/16-mile Preakness unfolded in textbook fashion for Prat and Rombauer, who settled in midpack in a field of 10 through the first turn before he started to gain momentum without any encumbrance down the backstretch. :: Get Daily Racing Form past performances, featuring exclusive Beyer Speed Figures - the gold standard in horse racing  “I had a great trip,” Prat said during the post-race media conference. “We broke well and I never intended to rush him. Down the backside he was traveling well and was passing horses one by one. So I was pretty confident coming to the three-eighths pole. I was behind some of the favorites in the race and I was traveling well and I thought, ‘Well, maybe if he switches leads and gives me a good kick, I will be able to run them down.’ ” Rombauer did that, and more. With Prat giving the colt the first of eight cracks of a left-handed whip just as they passed the quarter-pole, and with only Medina Spirit and Midnight Bourbon to catch, Rombauer went into overdrive down the center of the track, quickly putting the issue to rest leaving the furlong grounds. Past the wire, Prat was absolutely jubilant, thrusting his right fist into the Baltimore air several times. “I never thought the distance was a question. My only thing was to get him to break and get him to relax the first part and try to improve our position from there,” said Prat, whose top feats before Saturday had been multiple riding titles on what has become his home circuit; two Breeders’ Cup wins; and, of course, the infamous “kiss-in” Derby in which Maximum Security was disqualified from first to 17th for interfering with horses other than Prat’s longshot mount, Country House. In a once-loaded jockey colony formerly dominated by numerous Hall of Fame legends, a vacuum atop the Southern California standings has been filled in recent years by Prat, a French native whose ascent has been commensurate with an abundance of talent frequently praised by horsemen and fans since he began riding regularly there during the 2015-16 winter meet at Santa Anita. He has risen, unquestionably, to the top of one of America’s premier racing circuits and, at age 28, there could be plenty more of these high-profile victories to follow. But still. Day-in and day-out success is nice in the insular world of horse racing, but it’s during the Triple Crown when a far larger audience sits up and takes notice. The record will forever show that Prat is a Derby-winning jockey, but given the circumstances of how that came about, it’s no wonder this might be the best feeling he’s ever gotten on the back of a racehorse. “Of course it’s a lot different,” he said. “At first you get the feeling where it’s a lot of joy. It was a lot different than the Derby – but I am really proud of both of them.”