LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mystik Dan won a three-way photo finish over Sierra Leone and Forever Young in a historic 150th edition of the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby from a full field of 20 horses on Saturday night beneath the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Mystik Dan, saddled by Lexington-based trainer Kenny McPeek and ridden by jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., provided the first combination Oaks-Derby double since 1952 with their narrow win.

The McPeek-Hernandez duo teamed up to win the Kentucky Oaks with Thorpedo Anna on Friday evening at Churchill. The last jockey to do the Oaks-Derby double was Calvin Borel in 2009 with Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird. The last trainer to do the double was Ben Jones in 1952 with Real Delight and Hill Gail.

McPeek is only the fourth-ever trainer to do the Oaks-Derby double in the same year.

After Friday’s Kentucky Oaks was contested over a sloppy track and rain threatened throughout Saturday, the Derby was run over a fast main track at Churchill.

It didn’t matter. McPeek and Hernandez won in both conditions at Churchill Downs this weekend.

Catching Freedom finished in fourth. T O Password (JPN) finished in fifth. Both of the Japenese horses in this year’s race placed in the top five.

A $2 exacta in the Derby with Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone paid $258.56. A $1 trifecta with Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone and Forever Young (JPN) paid $1,113.84.

McPeek was previously 0 for 9 in the Derby, with his best finish being second with Tejano Run in 1995.

Hernandez had been 0 for 4 in the Derby, with his best finish being eighth with McCraken in 2017.

...continued

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