Reed Sheppard nailed it — shocker, right? Mystik Dan is your Kentucky Derby winner, just as the former Wildcat star predicted leading up to the race at Churchill Downs.
And it happened to be one of the most exciting races in Derby history, down to the wire and a true photo finish with a trio of horses neck-and-neck-and-neck with the winner separated by a matter of inches.
You couldn’t make it closer if you tried, the first Kentucky Derby decided by a nose since 1996.
Mystik Dan pulled off the win with an official time of
Mystik Dan raced the Kentucky Derby in a winning time of 2:03.34, followed by Sierra Leone, Forever Young, Catching Freedom and T O Password to round out the top five. Brian Hernandez Jr. was the jockey while Lexington’s own Kenny McPeek earned the victory as the trainer.
McPeek also trained Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna, making him the first trainer to sweep the Derby and Oaks since 1952, Ben Jones last accomplishing the feat with Real Delight and Hill Gail. The graduate of Tates Creek High School earned his first Derby win in historic fashion.
“I’m really proud of that, what are you gonna do?” McPeek said of the win. “You just take one horse at a time and we’re very fortunate.”
And here’s McPeek and Hernandez with Mystik Dan and the Garland of Roses.
The winner going off at 18-1 odds at the gate, a $2 exacta with Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone paid out an impressive $258.56 while a $1 trifecta including Forever Young paid out a whopping $1,113.84.
Reed Sheppard said on the red carpet before the race he pulled Mystik Dan out of a hat and was rolling with the No. 3 horse to win at his first Kentucky Derby.
Never a doubt.
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