What happened to Essential Quality, Rock Your World and the other Derby also-rans?
Medina Spirit is the 147th Kentucky Derby winner, and Hall of Famer trainer Bob Baffert now stands alone with seven career victories in the classic race.
What happened to the rest of the horses in the Derby on Saturday?
Coming into the day, much of the attention surrounding the race was on Brad Cox, the reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer and a Louisville native. He grew up just a few blocks from Churchill Downs and was looking to become the first Louisvillian to win a Kentucky Derby.
He almost did it, but not with the horse that most had in mind.
Mandaloun, a 26-1 shot trained by Cox, ran in third for much of the race before challenging early pacesetter Medina Spirit exiting the final turn. He made a furious run in the stretch but finished a half-length behind Medina Spirit, who won the race in 2:01.02, the eighth-fastest in Derby history.
Mandaloun had finished in sixth place as the 6-5 favorite in the Louisiana Derby, his final prep race.
“He absolutely ran his heart out,” runner-up jockey Florent Geroux said. “Words can’t describe how proud I am of him. What a race and what a horse. Well done to trainer Brad Cox. He got him ready to run off the Louisiana Derby effort. He showed us he is the horse we always thought. We just got beat.”
Cox’s best hope coming in was the race favorite, Essential Quality, who was undefeated in five starts and coming off a victory in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland four weeks earlier.
The son of Tapit had a rough beginning to the Derby.
Highly Motivated appeared to bump into Rock Your World just after the break, and Rock Your World then bumped into Essential Quality to his immediate inside.
The Derby favorite recovered quickly under jockey Luis Saez, who found some running room for Essential Quality after the initial jostling and had him clear — albeit on the outside — when the field passed the finish line for the first time.
From there, Essential Quality raced two- or three-wide but just a few lengths off of the early pace set by Medina Spirit. He started to make his move while still racing wide around the far turn and looked like he was ready to pounce on the leaders before racing even further wide into the stretch.
Once he straightened out, Essential Quality joined a four-horse charge alongside Medina Spirit, Mandaloun and Hot Rod Charlie, but he was fourth in that group, and that running order held all the way to the finish line.
“He bumped pretty good out of the gate,” Saez said. “We ended up getting pretty wide the entire trip which didn’t help, either.”
Medina Spirit ultimately won the race by a half-length over Mandaloun, who finished a half-length ahead of Hot Rod Charlie, who was another head in front of Essential Quality.
Rock Your World rocked
Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World came into Saturday with a perfect 3-for-3 record and went off as the 9-2 second choice in the betting.
His race all but ended in the opening moments.
Rock Your World was one of the last to leave the starting gate before taking a bump from Highly Motivated from his outside. That contact knocked him into Essential Quality on his inside, and he was sandwiched between those two colts in the opening strides.
Jockey Joel Rosario appeared to even shift in the saddle as Rock Your World tried to get back on track. By the time he got some clear running room, he was practically last in the field of 19 horses and well to the outside.
Rock Your World, who won the Santa Anita Derby from start to finish in his first dirt start, was expected to be among the early leaders. Unable to get to the lead, he raced in the middle of the pack — far on the outside — into the final turn and ultimately never factored into the race. He finished in 17th place.
“It was pretty much over after the break,” Rosario said. “We got out of position from there and it was a tough trip to overcome in a race like the Derby.”
Trainer John Sadler saw the same.
“We got squeezed at the start and we were done. No chance,” he said.
Hot Rod Charlie’s finish
Louisiana Derby winner Hot Rod Charlie — the third choice in the betting at 5-1 — got off to a relatively clean start and ran up on the heels of Medina Spirit in the early going. He was squeezed back by long shot Helium as they passed the finish line for the first time before finding a nice position in fifth place, just a few lengths behind Medina Spirit.
Jockey Flavien Prat was forced to angle out three wide leaving the final turn, but he found clear running room into the stretch and was right in the mix for the victory in the stretch.
He just couldn’t catch Medina Spirit or Mandaloun in the race to the wire, finishing third.
“We’re honored and blessed to have a horse like this,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “I’m so proud of him. And know for sure that he’ll be back.”
Long shots next
O Besos — a late-running 41-1 shot — got a great ride from Marcelino Pedroza Jr., who secured a spot on the rail and then maneuvered traffic to get him a clean run into the stretch, where he continued to pick up ground from the inside. At one point in the stretch, he nearly drew even with Essential Quality for the fourth position before fading a bit but holding on for fifth.
Midnight Bourbon — a 13-1 shot — is typically a frontrunner but “missed the break,” according to jockey Mike Smith, and ran near the back of the pack for much of the race. He finally made a run in the stretch and held off Keepmeinmind by a neck for sixth. Keepmeinmind went off at 49-1 and raced in last place for most of the way — he was still in that position as the field entered the final turn — before rallying for seventh in the stretch.
Helium — a 38-1 shot — raced near the front but couldn’t hang with the leaders in the stretch, finishing a distant eighth.
Known Agenda ninth
The curse of the No. 1 post position continued with Known Agenda, who broke cleanly but shied back to the 17th spot in the early going after the field came down toward the inside in the race to the first turn.
Known Agenda — the Florida Derby winner and 9-1 fourth choice — stayed on the rail all the way around but never got into the race. He finished ninth. No horse since Ferdinand in 1986 has won the Derby from the No. 1 post position.
Other Derby finishers
Highly Motivated — the fifth choice in the betting at 10-1 — ended up 10th. Sainthood (43-1) got a rail-skimming ride from Churchill Downs master Corey Lanerie but didn’t have anything for the stretch run, finishing 11th. He was followed by Like the King, Bourbonic, Hidden Stash, Brooklyn Strong, Super Stock, Rock Your World and Dynamic One in 18th — a host of horses that never factored into the race.
Soup and Sandwich ran just to Medina Spirit’s outside in second place for much of the race before fading badly as the field was in the final turn. He dropped all the way to last place.
