Forget American Pharoah and Secretariat's legendary Kentucky Derby runs ... Saturday's DQ finish was the MOST shocking moment in race history, so says the HOF jockey, Jerry Bailey.
"By far," Jerry tells TMZ Sports ... "This Derby will be remembered for a long time."
You've seen the story by now ... Maximum Security's epic Derby victory this past weekend was vacated after a review showed the horse impeded others on the race track.
A lot of people -- including President Donald Trump -- called the decision to overturn the result BS ... but Jerry tells us race officials weren't wrong.
"The video clearly shows, at least in my opinion, that the stewards made the right call."
Jerry says it's a bummer for everybody involved -- from the owners to the fans to the bettors -- calling it "a shame."
But, Bailey says they got the ruling ultimately right in the end ... saying, "As soon as we looked at the tape, we saw it."
Sorry, Gary West.