Kentucky Derby: Mystik Dan holds on for 18-1 upset win

Louisville, Ky.

Team Mystik Dan loves it when a plan comes together. Especially when it comes together to produce a Kentucky Derby victory.

Plenty had gone wrong for Mystik Dan before he turned 3, but once trainer Ken McPeek set a Kentucky Derby path, everything went right, and the Goldencents colt wore roses Saturday at Churchill Downs.

The final piece of the puzzle was a flawless, rail-skimming ride from Brian Hernandez Jr. to give the jockey-trainer combo a sweep of the Kentucky Oaks-Derby after they teamed to win the Oaks on Friday with Thorpedo Anna, making McPeek the first trainer to win both in the same year since 1952.

"We pushed this horse last fall, and it backfired and he had a lung infection," McPeek said of Mystik Dan's Nov. 25 race just two weeks after winning his first career race. "Then we came back in the Smarty Jones and pushed him again because we felt like we were behind the eight ball, and he came out of that race tired.

"So we regrouped, and came up with a plan, and he rewarded us with a Southwest Stakes (G3) win. And then we decided we'd give him some time and put all our eggs in the Arkansas Derby (G1) basket. We wanted to win, but we needed the points, and he came out of that race better than ever and ready for the Kentucky Derby."

After a few setbacks months ago, nothing went wrong for Mystik Dan in the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby. He hit all the mile markers as far as workouts go, and the connections were happy with post position 3. Just two stalls off the rail, Hernandez took it from there.

"I found a spot into the first turn, and I was already so proud of him because he was so comfortable and in a good rhythm," Hernandez said. "I knew they were going quick up front, but it never felt too fast for us. I knew we'd need an opening, and when Track Phantom gave us just half a step room on the rail, we took it.

"I knew I wanted to create some separation between me and the deep closers. At the eighth pole, we were still running hard. I didn't know they were that close until a few jumps before the wire."

Saving ground and that separation were the keys to victory, as Mystik Dan resisted the furious late rallies of Sierra Leone and Forever Young. Just a nose each separated the top three finishers, with Catching Freedom in fourth and the other Japan horse, T O Password, fifth. The final time was 2:03.34 on a track rated as fast. This marks the 10th time the Kentucky Derby was decided by the slimmest of margins and the first since Grindstone nosed Cavonnier in 1996.

"You get beat a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it's a tough one, but he's a tremendous horse," trainer Chad Brown said of Sierra Leone. "I'm just so lucky to have him, so proud of his effort today. It's just so hard to get here. So many things have to go right, and you have to have the right horse. It's disappointing the result, but I'm so proud of the horse. He ran his race."

Lance and Marilyn Gasaway are a part of the ownership group that bred Mystik Dan in Kentucky out of their Colonel John mare Ma'am, whom they also had raced with McPeek. In that regard, Mystik Dan has been with this group since conception, as McPeek also broke him before racing. But it was not until his runner-up debut at Keeneland that they knew they had something special.

"It takes a really good horse to finish first or second in a maiden race at Keeneland," Lance Gasaway said. "The thing about Kenny is he is so good with his horses and a plan. He always says a race is worth three workouts, and he just set this horse up for success so well."

The Derby win capped an incredible weekend for McPeek and Hernandez, who is the first jockey since Calvin Borel in 2009 to sweep the Oaks-Derby.

"I've been riding here for 20 years, and my corner of the jocks room used to be right there with Calvin's, and I definitely took notice of his rail rides," Hernandez said.

"There might be some paint from the rail on those pants," quipped McPeek.

McPeek said Thorpedo Anna played an integral role in Mystik Dan's preparation when the Derby plan began, as they were workmates at Oaklawn.

"They're too fast for each other closer to the big races, but she was the reason he won the Southwest. She got him dead fit," McPeek said. "I learned the hard way you don't want them working like that all the time, though. I maybe could have been in this position in 2002 with Take Charge Lady and Repent, and I worked them together too close to the Oaks-Derby."

McPeek said he would not commit to the Preakness Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico until assessing his Derby winner's evening and morning behavior. He said Thorpedo Anna did not clear her feed tub Oaks night, and she definitely would not supplement to the middle jewel of American Thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown.