An 18-1 bet, Mystik Dan, has won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a dramatic photo finish for three horses.
On Saturday Mystik Dan, ridden by Brian J. Hernandez Jr, fought to hang on with the two challengers coming to him in the closing strides. He did so, but only after a delay of several minutes while the closest three-horse photo finish since 1947 was sorted out.
That year, Jet Pilot won by a head over Phalanx, who was another head in front of Faultless. This one was much tighter.
Mystik Dan edged Sierra Leone by a nose, with Forever Young another nose back in third. Sierra Leone was the most expensive horse in the race at $2.3 million, the Associated Press reported. Mystik Dan ran the 1¼ miles over a fast track in 2:03.34 and paid $39.22, $16.32 and $10.
Sierra Leone, the second choice at 9-2 odds, and Forever Young from Japan came up just short at the wire in front of 156,710 people at Churchill Downs, the largest crowd since 2018. “You get beat a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it’s a tough one,” said Chad Brown, trainer of Sierra Leone. “But I’m so proud of the horse.”
Long shots Track Phantom and Just Steel led the field through the early going, with 3-1 favourite Fierceness racing three-wide just off the leaders.
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