LOUISVILLE, Ky. — At first, after the 22 agonizing minutes, an awful purgatory that Gary West, the owner of Maximum Security, noted had accurately captured the “thrill of victory and agony of defeat,” he was more than gracious.

West and his wife, Mary — philanthropists, telecommunications barons, horse owners — watched as their colt splashed home on a soupy track beneath Churchill Downs’ familiar spires, bringing them the Kentucky Derby win that had eluded them for 40 years, before it was snatched away from them.

Three stewards, horse racing’s version of referees, had just ruled that when Maximum Security jumped a puddle, he had impeded the progress of a rival, War of Will, almost knocking that colt’s rider, Tyler Gaffalione, off his horse. That meant Maximum Security had committed a foul and could not be declared the winner.

“That’s horse racing,” West said, leaving the winner’s circle he had long been trying to break into so that the connections of Country House could enter and hoist the most famous trophy in American horse racing. “Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Sometimes you win and you lose all in the same race.”