Mystik Dan wins 150th Kentucky Derby in photo finish
Mystik Dan (18-1) won the 150th Kentucky Derby Saturday in a photo finish.
It was the first time in 28 years that the Kentucky Derby was won by a nose, and just the 10th time ever.
Track Phantom (41-1) and Just Steel (21-1) led for a long while, up until the ¾ mile mark, with Fierceness, the 3-1 favorite, in third. Mystik Dan, though, held the inside right behind them.
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But Mystik Dan, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., busted through the pack after the final turn, and after the turn, Fierceness fell way, way behind.
Mystik Dan led by several lengths in the final stretch, but Sierra Leone (9-2), the second-highest favorite crept up from the outside, pushing Japanese horse Forever Young toward the railing.
Those three horses were within noses of each other, but it was Mystik Dan’s that crossed the line first.
Sierra Leone finished second, with Forever Young in third, while Fierceness finished 15th, 24 ½ lengths behind.
This year’s race came with much less controversy than last year’s, as a dozen horses died at Churchill Days in the days, and even hours, leading up to that race.
Notably absent from this year’s race will be Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who’s two-year ban was extended through 2024, making this the third Kentucky Derby in which a Baffert-trained horse will not be competing.
A six-time winner at the Derby, Baffert was banned after 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit was stripped of the title following a failed post-race drug test – the horse died of a heart attack that December.
Mystik Dan will now officially begin the quest for a Triple Crown at the Preakness Stakes at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course on May 18.
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