‘We ran too good to get beat.’ Here’s what happened to every horse in the Kentucky Derby.

For a few fleeting moments Saturday evening, it looked like Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen would finally win his Kentucky Derby.

Asmussen, who has won just about every other major horse race in North America, was 0-for-23 in the Derby coming into this weekend, when he brought perhaps his best shot yet to Louisville.

Epicenter, the impressive winner of the Louisiana Derby, went off as the 4-1 favorite at Churchill Downs and looked the part for most of Saturday’s run. Breaking from the No. 3 post, he quickly went to the rail under jockey Joel Rosario and settled in there, going into the first turn in seventh place and sitting a few lengths behind the leaders.

He tracked in that position down the backstretch and started to make his move in the final turn. There, Epicenter and Rosario were bottled up around the turn before some space opened up, and the Kentucky Derby favorite took advantage and led the 20-horse field into the stretch.

Zandon, the Blue Grass Stakes winner and morning-line Derby favorite, then took his run at Epicenter, racing to his outside and looking for a few seconds like he would swallow him up in the stretch and win the race.

And right as it became clear that Epicenter would repel Zandon’s final bid, 80-1 shot Rich Strike came rolling down the stretch to their inside, passed the race favorite in the final strides, and won by three-quarters of a length to deliver one of the biggest shockers in Kentucky Derby history.

“Disappointed we didn’t win, but we love Epicenter, and we’re very proud of him,” Asmussen said on the track immediately after the race. He now has a record 24 Kentucky Derby starters without a victory, finishing second for the third time in his Hall of Fame career.

“Everything was perfect,” Rosario said. “We thought we were home. Too bad that horse got us right at the end. I thought Epicenter ran a tremendous race. He did everything. He responded when I asked him. We ran too good to get beat.”

Blue Grass winner comes up short

Zandon started the week as the 3-1 morning-line favorite but went off at 6-1, the third choice in the betting. He broke from the 10 post, got squeezed by horses in the early going but found a spot on the rail under jockey Flavien Prat and appeared to settle in nicely from there.

Once the field got into place in the early going, Zandon had a spot just a couple of lengths behind Epicenter, right on the rail. He followed Epicenter into the stretch and swung out to make his bid from there. At one point, Zandon nearly came eye to eye with the favorite, but he never quite got on even terms and ultimately finished three-quarters of a length behind Epicenter in third.

“I was in a good spot,” Prat said afterward. “I was behind Epicenter, so I was really pleased with that. At the eighth pole, I thought I was going to win, and he got a little tired at the end.”

Prat, who won the 2019 Derby via disqualification on 60-1 shot Country House, offered a wry smile when asked if he saw 80-1 shot Rich Strike coming in the final moments of this race.

“I saw him at the end,” he said. “But it didn’t matter.”

It was another Derby defeat for four-time trainer of the year Chad Brown, who finished second with Good Magic four years ago and is now 0-for-7 in the race.

“We really had a great trip,” Brown said. “Epicenter was in front of us closer to the pace and Flavien really just followed Joel all the way. Turning for home he was in a great position and was really battling with Epicenter. (Rich Strike) just snuck up our inside and we were third-best.”

Best of the rest

Simplification, at 35-1 odds, broke from the 13 post and got a little jostled early on, ultimately settling toward the back of the pack and heading into the first turn in 15th place. He was in a similar position in the final turn before swinging wide into the stretch and passing up horses on the outside, getting near the front toward the end to finish fourth.

Wood Memorial winner Mo Donegal, the fifth betting choice at 10-1, had the No. 1 post position, a troubled spot in the past that was supposed to be alleviated by a new starting gate that brought the path from that stall farther out from the rail.

Mo Donegal still found trouble, appearing to hit the inside of the starting gate on the break, which put him away a step behind Happy Jack, the horse to his immediate outside.

As a result, Mo Donegal got fairly close to the rail and ended up toward the back of the pack, a position that suits his usual running style. He had only two horses beat entering the final turn and was forced to swing out incredibly wide into the stretch, showing plenty of run from there but coming home in fifth place.

“He kind of had a difficult trip,” trainer Todd Pletcher said. “Closed really well — just had too much to do turning for home.”

Barber Road, another colt who typically comes from off the pace, broke well and went to the rail, where he raced 20th and last going into the first turn and was still back in 19th going into the final turn. The 60-1 shot ended up swinging the widest of all into the stretch and matched strides with Mo Donegal for much of the run from there, just nipping Tawny Port at the wire for sixth place.

“We still need more ground,” said John Ortiz, trainer of Barber Road. “I always thought he was a Belmont horse. We knew we had to go wide. Traffic is what we had to avoid. It was awesome. I love the effort. I love what (jockey) Reylu (Gutierrez) did. I couldn’t be happier right now.”

‘A hot pace’

Dubai-based Summer Is Tomorrow — at 36-1 odds — broke quickest in the field and immediately went to the front, leading the charge into the first turn. He was followed by Japanese-based Crown Pride, the horse that had defeated him in the UAE Derby. Next in line came Santa Anita Derby runner-up Messier in third and long-shot Zozos in fourth. Santa Anita Derby winner Taiba and Arkansas Derby winner Cyberknife were right behind them.

The first half-mile was run in :45.36, the fifth-fastest time on record.

“That opening half-mile was … whoa-oh! Blazing fast!” exclaimed NBC Sports race-caller Larry Collmus.

Messier took the lead briefly from Crown Pride in the final turn before Epicenter passed both horses to take over into the stretch. The blistering pace up front obviously took a toll on those who contested it.

Of those top six horses in the early going, Zozos finished 10th, Taiba was 12th, Crown Pride 13th, Messier 15th, Cyberknife 18th, and pacesetter Summer Is Tomorrow faded to 20th and last.

Brad Cox, who trained 2021 Derby champ Mandaloun, had Zozos and Cyberknife among his three starters in this year’s race, with Cyberknife being his shortest-priced starter at 14-1 odds.

“He looked like he was in a good spot early,” Cox said. “But when I did see the fast fractions, I though, ‘Whoa.’ … And it just wasn’t his day. Probably just too close to a hot pace.”

Rest of the Derby field

Brad Cox’s other entry, Lexington Stakes winner Tawny Port, rode on the rail for much of the race, started passing tired horses early in the stretch and got as high up as fifth — relatively close to the top three finishers — deeper in the stretch before getting passed by Mo Donegal and Barber Road at the very end to finish seventh.

Blue Grass Stakes runner-up Smile Happy — from the barn of Lexington trainer Kenny McPeek — raced in the top half of the field for the early going and was fifth at the top of the stretch before tiring and finishing eighth. McPeek’s other entry, Tiz the Bomb was ninth.

None of the other horses in the field factored into the race, with Classic Causeway finishing 11th, Happy Jack 14th, White Abarrio 16th, Charge It 17th and Pioneer of Medina 19th.

Of those, the biggest favorite was Florida Derby winner White Abarrio, who went off at 15-1 odds and was the winner of four races in five starts coming into the Kentucky Derby.

“He jumped great,” said jockey Tyler Gaffalione. “Then the first sixteenth we got squeezed back and then he was fighting the kickback, and I got caught wide both turns. He made a good run — just kinda got tired out.”

Happy Jack had an eventful time before the race started, acting up in the gate before being backed out and reloaded.

“Somehow his tail got trapped in the gate and he started acting crazy,” jockey Rafael Bejarano said. “He tried to flip out, and then they had to back him out.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2022 at 10:04 PM.

Ben Roberts

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-429-2848

Ben Roberts is the University of Kentucky men’s basketball beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He has previously specialized in UK basketball recruiting coverage and created and maintained the Next Cats blog. He is a Franklin County native and first joined the Herald-Leader in 2006. Support my work with a digital subscription