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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Mystik Dan wins in a dramatic photo finish at 150th Kentucky Derby | |
By Homero De la Fuente and Ben Church, CNN | |
Updated: | |
8:55 PM EDT, Sat May 4, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
Mystik Dan has won the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby in a | |
dramatic photo finish at Churchill Downs on Saturday in Louisville. | |
Mystik Dan edged out Sierra Leone and Forever Young in a rare to | |
capture the first leg of the Triple Crown. | |
The next race of the prestigious is on May 18 at the Preakness | |
Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. | |
Only 13 horses have won all three races in a single year, with the Bob | |
Baffert trained Justify being the last to accomplish the feat in 2018. | |
Since the first edition of the race in 1875, it has become the longest | |
continuously held sporting event in the US, and arguably one of the | |
most loved. | |
Over the years the Kentucky Derby has seen sporting drama, controversy | |
and has crowned some of the best race horses in history. | |
Photo finishes are rare at the Derby | |
Entering the race at 18-1 odds, Mystik Dan edged out Sierra Leone and | |
Forever Young in a dramatic three-horse photo finish to capture the | |
first leg of the Triple Crown. Sierra Leone finished in second place, | |
while Forever Young finished in third place. | |
It was the 10th time in the race’s history a horse has won by a nose | |
and the first since Grindstone in 1996, according to the NBC broadcast. | |
The Derby, in a , said it was “the closest three-horse photo finish | |
since 1947 when Jet Pilot finished a head in front of Phalanx and one | |
length ahead of Faultless.” | |
“This is unbelievable. That was longest few minutes I’ve ever felt | |
in my life waiting for them to hang that number above us,” said | |
jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. after the race. | |
“It was exciting when we hit the wire but I wasn’t sure if we won | |
so it was quite a rush to sit here and wait for it.” | |
The for Hernandez Jr. and trainer Kenny McPeek at the Kentucky Derby. | |
The winnings total $3.1 million for the race, the Derby said in a news | |
release. | |
Unrivalled history | |
The first Kentucky Derby was people who saw three-year-old chestnut | |
colt Aristides, ridden by jockey Oliver Lewis, triumph at Churchill | |
Downs. | |
The Derby has been held at the same venue since, even during both World | |
Wars and the Great Depression of the 1930s. | |
This year, over 150,000 were expected to descend onto the famed | |
racetrack to watch the race and revel in the celebrations. | |
Some of the greatest horses have won the Derby, including the likes of | |
Secretariat, American Pharoah, Citation and most recently Justify. | |
The Kentucky Derby is also the first leg of the prestigious Triple | |
Crown, a feat which consists of the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont | |
Stakes – only 13 horses have won all three races in a single year. | |
While the race and the venue has remained much the same, work has been | |
underway to improve safety for horses at the track. | |
Last year, announced new safety initiatives as part of an ongoing | |
investigation into a at the track. | |
Bob Baffert ban extended | |
The 150th edition of the Kentucky Derby was run without arguably the | |
most recognizable name in the sport, Bob Baffert. | |
The 71-year-old, who has trained six Derby winners, has been banned | |
from competing in the race since his horse Medina Spirit tested | |
positive for a banned substance after initially being declared the | |
winner in 2021. | |
The suspension was initially for two years but was extended by | |
Churchill Downs Incorporated (CDI), the organizer of the horse race and | |
owner of the famed racetrack, to cover this year’s race. | |
Baffert “continues to peddle a false narrative concerning the failed | |
drug test of Medina Spirit,” a CDI statement read , explaining the | |
decision. | |
The trainer’s request for an emergency hearing was denied by the | |
Kentucky appeals court judge last month, meaning Baffert-trained Muth, | |
one of the best horses in the country, won’t be allowed to run. | |
This is a developing story and will be updated. | |
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