They don't call it the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports for nothing. On Saturday, the 2024 edition of the Kentucky Derby ended in thrilling fashion, to say the least. Out of all the horses who broke out of the gates at Churchill Downs, it was a long shot in the form of Mystik Dan, which won the event by a nose.
Mystik Dan looked as though it was going to win the race decisively when it had a sizable lead from the rest of the competition with a furlong to go. However, Sierra Leone and Forever Young gave it a strong final push that threatened Mystik Dan down the stretch. It took further review to determine the race's winner with the final decision ultimately favoring Mystik Dan, who was priced at 18-1 on the betting boards just before the start of the race.
“I wasn’t sure if we had won,” Mystik Dan's jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said following the race about the wild finish (h/t NBC News). “So it was quite a rush to sit here and wait for it.”
Mystik Dan was not expected to be in the position it found itself in by the end of the race, as evidenced by its long odds of winning the first leg of the Triple Crown. Before the race, however, Mystik Dan looked solid heading into the race. It showed at the 2024 Arkansas Derby (Grade 1) last March and won its first graded stakes race last February at the 2024 Southwest Stakes (Grade 3).
Mystik Dan broke out of the third post and lacked explosion at the start of the Kentucky Derby. It was running fourth after the first turn. In the second turn, Hernandez had Mystik Dan leading by around a couple of lengths before Sierra Leone and Forever Young turned on the boosters to make it a three-way race the rest of the way.
Fortunately for Hernandez and Mystik Dan, they had built just enough separation between them and Sierra Leone and Forever Young, which finished second and third, respectively. Catching Freedom finished fourth, while T O Password rounded out the top five finishers.
“My horse was just cruising along so comfortably, it never felt like we were going that quickly,” Hernandez shared following the race (h/t The Athletic). “I was just smiling the whole time. It’s an amazing feeling when you have the horse under you and you now they’re gonna go forward and forward and forward.”
Meanwhile, Fierceness, which was the favorite to win the 2024 Kentucky Derby, had a rather disappointing performance, as it ended up placing just 15th overall.
Wild Kentucky Derby finish has fans going bonkers
“🐎 Most thrilling #KentuckyDerby in years. A nail-biting photo finish! Congratulations to Mystik Dan and his team! Spectacular!” said Twitter (X) user Gregory T. Angelo.
“Has it ever, can it get, any closer than that?” commented @jheir.
“Congrats but personally Upsetting. Wasn’t a favorite or a good long shot. I didn’t even bet on him 😂,” shared @starsalign1.
“I bet three dollars on a horse named Mystik Dan to win the Kentucky Derby because it would be funny for the Derby winner to be a horse that sounds like a guy who would sell you mushrooms in the parking lot of a Phish show,” stated @joshgondelman.
Via @SethhenrySeth: “Mystik Dan wins in photo finish, outruns heavy favorite fierceness in stunning upset”
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