LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For the 150th renewal, you could not have asked for a more thrilling Kentucky Derby.

Trained by Lexingtonian Kenny McPeek, Mystik Dan edged hard-charging $2.3 million colt Sierra Leone and Japanese intruder Forever Young in a three-way photo finish by a nose (if that) to win a breathtaking Derby before 156,710 at Churchill Downs.

Not only did McPeek earn his first Kentucky Derby victory, in combination with Thorpedo Anna’s win in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, McPeek became the first trainer since the legendary Ben Jones in 1952 to pull off the Oaks/Derby double. Jones did it with Oaks winner Real Delight and Derby winner Hill Gail.

“Wow,” said McPeek on Saturday when asked about the feat.

“For three weeks, I felt like we were going to win both races, I can’t tell you why,” said the trainer. “I believe in mojo. I believe in positive energy and we had a lot of that.”

Brian Hernandez Jr. became the first jockey to win both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby since Calvin Borel in 2009 on Rachel Alexandra in the Oaks and Mine That Bird in the Derby.

A homebred owned by Arkansas’ Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing, Daniel Hamby III and Valley View Farm, Mystik Dan won in a time of 2:03 3/5. At odds of 18-1, he paid $39.22 to win, $16.32 to place and $10 to show. The son of Goldencents had won the Southwest Stakes by 8 lengths on a muddy track at Oaklawn on Feb. 3, but had finished third behind Muth and Just Steel in the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn on May 30.

“I’m pinching myself, wondering if this is real,” Gasaway said. “You just won the biggest horse race in America. Who would have dreamed it.”

The 61-year-old McPeek won the 2002 Belmont Stakes with Sarava and the 2020 Preakness with the filly Swiss Skydiver, but was 0 for 9 in his home state’s famous race. His best finish was second with Tejano Run all the way back in 1995.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the connections of Sierra Leone, who had won the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 6. With a deep closing running style, Sierra Leone made a strong move to the finish but came up a nose short.

...continued

©2024 Lexington Herald-Leader. Visit kentucky.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.