The first triple crown race of 2024 took place on Saturday with the Kentucky Derby. Here are some fascinating points you may not have known about champion Mystik Dan.
Incredibly Close Finish
Mystik Dan’s Kentucky Derby title was extremely close. He won a three-way photo finish over second place finisher Sierra Leone and a third place finisher Forever Young. Mystik Dan’s victory actually came by a nose. Forever Young is a Japanese thoroughbred race horse.
Won a Milestone Race
This was the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby in 1875. Black Gold won the 50th Kentucky Derby in 1924, and Cannonade won the 100th Kentucky Derby in 1974.
First Triple Crown win for Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.
The native of Lafayette, Louisiana won his first Triple Crown race. The most notable win he had prior to Saturday came in 2012 when Hernandez Jr. won the 2012 Breeders’ Cup Classic on the horse Fort Larned.
Third Triple Crown win for Trainer Kenneth McPeek
The 2024 Kentucky Derby was the third Triple Crown win for trainer Kenneth McPeek of Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. It was also the first Kentucky Derby win for McPeek. He previously trained Sarava to a Belmont Stakes victory in 2002, and filly Swiss Skydiver to a win at the Preakness in 2020.
Significant title for McPeek and Hernandez Jr.
McPeek was the first trainer since 1952 to win the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in the same year. On May 3, a day before the Kentucky Derby, McPeek trained Thorpedo Anna to victory. Interestingly, Hernandez Jr. was also the winning jockey. In 1952, Ben Jones of Parnell, Missouri trained Real Delight to a win at the Kentucky Oaks and Hill Gail to a win at the Kentucky Derby.
When was Mystik Dan’s only other win?
Mystik Dan’s only other win came at the Southwest Stakes in Hot Springs, Arkansas this past January. Mystik Dan was trained by Juan Sanchez and rode by Emmanuel Esquivel.
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