Mystik Dan held on by a nose in a dramatic three-way photo finish to win the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Trained by Kenny McPeek and ridden by jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., the colt stormed through on the inside rail to take a three-length lead turning for home, then held off late challenges from Sierra Leone and Japanese raider Forever Young.
The victory completed a memorable double for McPeek and Hernandez, who had won the Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna 24 hours earlier. 'Brian just did an amazing job - just a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant jockey and ride,' McPeek told NBC Sports. 'The draw (stall three) helped us from the beginning but Brian is amazing, probably one of the most underrated riders in racing, but not anymore, right!'
Hernandez admitted the wait for the result to be confirmed was agonising. 'This is just unbelievable, that was the longest few minutes I've ever felt in my life, waiting for them to put that number up,' he said. 'It was exciting when we hit the front but I wasn't sure we had won, so it was quite a rush to stay there and wait for it.'
The 150th 'Run for the Roses' took place on a fast dirt track after a glorious day in Louisville. A crowd of 156,710 watched as Track Phantom set the early pace, flanked by Just Steel and favourite Fierceness. Sierra Leone's trainer Chad Brown praised his horse's effort: 'To get beaten a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it's a tough one, but that's professional sports... He did everything we asked him to do and it came up just a little bit short.'
Ben Curtis finished eighth on Honor Marie, while Frankie Dettori was 16th of the 20 runners on Society Man.
