Kentucky Derby 2015: American Pharoah wins 2015 Kentucky Derby
It’s not often the Kentucky Derby favorite wins the race but the betting favorite won this year as American Pharoah beat Firing Line and Dortmund in the 141st Kentucky Derby.
In one of the most jam-packed Saturday’s in sports, the most exciting two minutes returned to the foreground as 170,513 flocked to Churchill Downs in Lexington for the 2015 Kentucky Derby.
The Triple Crown is an unofficial start of spring with warm weather, lush green grass and flowers in bloom as a renewed sense of hope and optimism fills the air with the hope that this year horse racing fans will get to witness the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.
Real Quiet came the closest to snapping the streak when he won the Derby and the Preakness before losing the Belmont by a nose. Last year’s Derby winner, California Chrome won the first two legs before finishing in a tie for fourth with Wicked Strong.
Entering the race we figured it would be a two-horse race with American Pharoah who is the 3-1 betting favorite and Dortmund checking in with 4-1 odds. Both horses are trained by Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert who is looking for his fourth win in the Derby and the first since War Emblem run the Run for the Roses in 2002.
American Pharoah won the Del Mar Futurity and FrontRunner Stakes in 2014 and the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby in 2015. Gary West of ESPN.com, via the Louisville Courier-Journal on the biggest question facing the betting favorite.
“American Pharoah does things easily that others have to struggle to accomplish, and now that he has won the Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby in dominating style without feeling the encouragement of a whip the question becomes how much more talent, energy and speed could he possess; and, of course, that’s the question the 141st Derby should answer.”
In the Arkansas Derby he showed his world-class speed in winning by eight lengths with jockey Victor Espinoza on the ride. He is a two-time Derby winner who rode War Emblem and California Chrome to victory. The race shaped up just as we thought with American Pharoah having the measure of Dortmund and Firing Line and stayed in the top three until he pulled away down the stretch with Victor Espinoza on the ride, winning for the second year in a row and third overall.
Dortmund, the sire of Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Big Brown and is a big, strong horse who had an advantageous post position at the No. 7 gate while American Pharoah started from the No. 17 gate, but he suffered his first loss of his career, finishing in third.
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