Mystik Dan held on in a three-way photo finish to secure the Kentucky Derby title for trainer Kenny McPeek and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.
Sierra Leone came home strong but couldn’t quite make up for City Of Troy’s disappointing performance in the Guineas in 2000 to its Coolmore owners, while Japanese raider Forever Young was further ahead in third place.
The 150th Run for the Roses took place on a 10-furlong dirt course that was described as a fast race after Friday night’s rain dried up after a glorious day in Louisville.
A crowd of 156,710 packed into Churchill Downs let out an almighty cheer as Track Phantom took the early lead, flanked by Just Steel and favorite Fierceness.
This trio maintained the upper hand until the turn, when Mystik Dan broke through on the inside rail and quickly gained a three-length lead.
Sierra Leone and Forever Young fought hard to make up the gap, closing in on the leader with every step, but the finish line came just in time for Mystik Dan.
It was a memorable double for the successful trainer and jockey, who had won the Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna 24 hours earlier, McPeek said NBC Sports: “Brian just did a great job – just a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant jockey and ride.”
“The draw (stand three) helped us from the start but Brian is great, probably one of the most underrated drivers in racing but not anymore, right!”
Hernandez admitted that the long wait for the result to be confirmed was excruciating, explaining: “This is just incredible, these were the longest minutes I’ve ever felt in my life waiting for them to get that number to name.”
“It was exciting when we got to the top, but I wasn’t sure we had won, so it was quite a rush to stay there and wait for it.”
“This is a lifetime achievement. This is for our whole family, we’ve all worked for this our whole lives and it’s hard to describe what a feeling it is.”
“I always told myself that I would never enter the Derby winner’s circle until I made it on the back of a horse, so I could live that dream I had as a six-year-old child with my grandparents.”‘ Farm , told them all about how I was going to the Kentucky Derby one day – and here we are.
“This makes the last 20 years of getting up at five in the morning, finding horses to ride and people to give us opportunities, coming to fruition on days like yesterday and today.
“It’s hard to put into words and it’ll probably take us about a week to grasp it before we say, ‘Hey, we won the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks in the same year.’
Coach Chad Brown said of runner-up Sierra Leone: “Taking a nose in the Kentucky Derby is a tough thing, but this is professional sport and at this level you’re going to win some and lose some and that’s often the case on a few occasions.” centimeters.
“He’s a great horse, he’s almost unbeaten and didn’t lose much in both defeats and I’m just so happy to have him and so proud of his performance today.”
“He did everything we asked him to do and it came up just a little bit short, but hats off to the winner and Ken McPeek, who has the Derby and Oaks winners, to him and his team, they really did did a great job.”
“The derby gods can sometimes be cruel and keep you waiting and some coaches never have one. So if I’m lucky enough to be in the same position again, I’ll be grateful for that.”
Ben Curtis, master apprentice in Ireland in 2010, finished eighth on Honor Marie while Frankie Dettori on Society Man finished 16th of the 20 runners.