Mystik Dan wins 150th Kentucky Derby by a nose in the closest 3-horse photo finish since 1947

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The 150th Kentucky Derby produced one of the most dramatic finishes in its storied history — three noses at the wire.

Mystik Dan desperately fought to hang on with two challengers coming to him in the closing strides. He did, too, after a delay of several minutes while the closest three-horse photo finish since 1947 was sorted out.

That year, Jet Pilot won by a head over Phalanx, who was another head in front of Faultless.

This one was much tighter.

Mystik Dan, an 18-1 shot, edged Sierra Leone by a nose, with Forever Young another nose back in third on Saturday. Sierra Leone was the most expensive horse in the race at $2.3 million.

Long shots Track Phantom and Just Steel led the field through the early going, with 3-1 favorite Fierceness racing three-wide just off the leaders.

At the top of the stretch, everything changed.

Track Phantom drifted off the rail, opening a hole that Hernandez squeezed Mystik Dan through, and the bay colt suddenly found another gear. He quickly opened up a daylight advantage on the field.

“When he shot through that spot, he was able to cut the corner and I asked him to go for it,” Hernandez said. “He shot off and I’m like, ‘Oh man, I’ve got a big chance to win the Kentucky Derby.’”

To Mystik Dan's outside, Sierra Leone and Forever Young took up the chase in the middle of the track.

As Mystik Dan sped along the rail, Sierra Leone lugged in and bumped Forever Young three times in the stretch, but jockey Ryusei Sakai didn’t claim foul.

Mystik Dan got so close to the rail that Hernandez's boot struck it.

"But I think we can buy another pair of boots,” he said.

The winner's share of the record $5 million purse was $3.1 million, with the jockey and trainer typically earning 10% each.

“Just a brilliant, brilliant, brilliant jockey and ride,” McPeek said. “Brian is one of the most underrated jockeys, but not anymore, right?”

Sierra Leone, the second choice at 9-2 odds, and Forever Young from Japan came up just short at the wire in front of 156,710 at Churchill Downs, the largest crowd since 2018.

“You get beat a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it’s a tough one,” said Chad Brown, trainer of Sierra Leone. “But I’m so proud of the horse.”

It was just the 10th Kentucky Derby decided by a nose — the closest margin in horse racing — and the first since Grindstone edged Cavonnier to wear the garland of red roses in 1996.

The crowd waited several minutes in the heat and humidity as the result was reviewed by the stewards and declared official.

“The longest few minutes of my life,” Hernandez said, after he and Mystik Dan walked in circles while the stunning result was settled. “To see your number flash up to win the Derby, I don't think it will sink in for a while.”

Fierceness finished 15th in the field of 20 3-year-olds. Owner Mike Repole is 0 for 8 in the derby. He had the favorite in 2011 with Uncle Mo, who was scratched the day before the race with an illness. Last year, Forte was scratched the morning of the race as the favorite with a bruised foot.

Mystik Dan ran 1 1/4 miles over a fast track in 2:03.34 and paid $39.22, $16.32 and $10.

Hernandez and trainer Kenny McPeek had teamed for a wire-to-wire win in the Kentucky Oaks for fillies on Friday with Thorpedo Anna. McPeek is the first trainer to sweep both races since Ben Jones in 1952.

McPeek's only other victory in a Triple Crown race was also a shocker: 70-1 Sarava won the 2002 Belmont Stakes — the biggest upset in that race's history. The colt spoiled the Triple Crown bid of War Emblem.

The winning owners are cousins Lance and Brent Gasaway and Daniel Hamby III, all from Arkansas. They bred Mystik Dan.

“We’ve done it with what I call working-class horse,” McPeek said, explaining the colt's sire and dam weren't big names.

Sharilyn Gasaway, Brent's wife, said, “It is surreal for sure. We feel like we’re just ordinary people and we’ve got an amazing horse.”

Sierra Leone returned $6.54 and $4.64. Forever Young was another nose back in third and paid $5.58 to show.

Catching Freedom was fourth, followed by T O Password of Japan, Resilience, Stronghold, Honor Marie and Endlessly. Dornoch was 10th and then came Track Phantom, West Saratoga, Domestic Product, Epic Ride, Fierceness, Society Man, Just Steel, Grand Mo the First, Catalytic and Just a Touch.

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing

CORRECTS TO REMOVE REFERENCE TO FINISH LINE TO WIN - Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, as horses near the first turn during the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. Mystic Dan went on to win the race. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Brian Hernandez Jr. celebrates in the winner's circle after riding Mystik Dan to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Brian Hernandez Jr. celebrates after riding Mystik Dan to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Brian Hernandez Jr. celebrates in the winner's circle after riding Mystik Dan to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Brian Hernandez Jr. celebrates in the winner's circle after riding Mystik Dan to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, across the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, runs to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Thorpedo Anna (5) to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race Churchill Downs Friday, May 3, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Dan Brian Hernandez Jr., celebrates after riding Mystik Dan too win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Mystik Dan, right, runs to the finish line to win the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Sierra Leone, with jockey Tyler Gaffalione, (2), Forever Young, with jockey Ryusei Sakai, and Mystik, with jockey Dan Brian Hernandez Jr., cross finish line at Churchill Downs during the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Sierra Leone, with jockey Tyler Gaffalione, (2), Forever Young, with jockey Ryusei Sakai, and Mystik, with jockey Dan Brian Hernandez Jr., cross finish line at Churchill Downs during the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)

Race fans watch the paddock at Churchill Downs before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A race fan walks though the stands at Churchill Downs before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A race fan walks though the stands at Churchill Downs before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A race fan watches race at Churchill Downs before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A race fan walks through the stands at Churchill Downs before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Race fans arrives at Churchill Downs before the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Graphic shows horses in the Kentucky Derby with post positions, silks and odds; with related stories; 6c x 4 inches

A horse gets a bath after a workout at Churchill Downs Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Grand Mo The First gets a bath after a workout at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., May 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

CORRECTS SPELLING OF LAST NAME TO DEMERITTE, NOT DEMERIT AS ORIGINALLY SENT - Trainer Larry Demeritte watches as Kentucky Derby entrant West Saratoga gets a bath after a workout at Churchill Downs Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby hopeful Sierra Leone works out at Churchill Downs Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby hopeful Stronghold works out at Churchill Downs Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Fierceness works out at Churchill Downs Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

A horse throws up mud on the track at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 3, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

A horse comes off the track after a workout at Churchill Downs Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 4. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Perspective was even harder to come by than birdies through all the raindrops, bourbon and cigar smoke that streamed across golf's biggest stage Friday during one of the sport's most bizarre mornings ever.

By the time the world's best player, Scottie Scheffler, had been booked into jail, had his mug shot taken, his police statement recorded, his release secured, entrepreneurs near Valhalla Golf Club were already selling “Free Scottie” T-shirts outside. Fans, some of them self-proclaimed Scottie lovers, were already wearing them inside.

And by the time the day had ended, with Scheffler remarkably tied for fourth place at the PGA Championship after a round that looked as efficient as any he’s played of late, he had chipped away, birdie by birdie, at the notion that the pre-dawn scuffle with police, the trip downtown, that jail-issued orange shirt, or any of the endless snark and commentary that surrounded all of this would slow him down.

Was it a classic case of mind over matter? Or another illustration of the public's never-ending thirst for a round-the-clock reality-show life? Depends on who you ask.

“It's just amazing how you come out here after something like that, put that all aside and make a birdie on the first hole,” said Dean Adams, a golf fan who drove up from Nashville, Tennessee, with friends and was waiting for the world's top-ranked golfer near the 14th green.

Scheffler made five more birdies after that and shot 5-under 66.

Every time a putt dropped or a shot was hit, chants of “Scott-eee, Scott-eee” and “Free Scott-eee” pierced across the drizzle-dampened, mud-caked country club. Two fans lifted their bourbon drinks after a nice approach to the 12th green at around 11 a.m. and shouted “Here's one for Scottie.”

“As far as best rounds of my career, I would say it was pretty good,” said Scheffler, who has won four times already this year, including at the Masters. “I definitely never imagined ever going to jail, and I definitely never imagined going to jail the morning before one of my tee times.”

Amazing as Scheffler's ability was to separate his off-course trouble from his on-course performance, this was more than a story about a great athlete's mindset or a remarkable day on the links.

The episode was triggered when a worker for a PGA vendor, 69-year-old John Mills, was hit and killed by an oncoming bus as he tried to cross through traffic outside the golf course in the slickened, pre-dawn darkness.

Police reported that the officer who tried to stop Scheffler as he hurried to the course ended up in the hospital after he was dragged to the ground when the car Scheffler was driving “accelerated forward.”

Scheffler called it “a chaotic situation and a big misunderstanding.” He used some of his time in the holding cell to stretch and get ready for a round he wasn't sure he'd get to play.

“That was a first for me,” he said.

All this came against the backdrop of the Louisville police force's troubled past: Only a year ago, the U.S. Justice Department found the police in Kentucky's largest city violated the Constitution in various ways with an overzealous use of force that discriminated against Black people.

Nobody will confuse the Scheffler incident with the episodes that led to those findings.

“But it's just another bad look for the city,” said golf fan Bill Miller, a Louisville resident. “I'd want to understand what the cop was probably trying to do. But it's sad. We just came out here to watch some golf.”

To see that this was about more than golf was to take a stroll through the Kentucky rain and mix in with the umbrella-toting, neck craning crowd that lined up 10 deep in spots.

Fans wore orange jump suits and another popular T-shirt selection, these ones plastered with Scheffler's freshly taken mug shot.

They checked their phones for the latest hot take in what quickly became a second-by-second battle across the social media hellscape to be fresher, funnier, more inappropriate.

Almost all the memes — like the photoshopped image of Scheffler wearing his green jacket from the Masters over his orange jump suit from jail — were some level of tasteless.

They spoke more about the world we live in than Scheffler's travails, which are likely to drag past Sunday when the tournament ends and this circus leaves town.

“The conclusion you can draw is that any time you have a famous person involved in any incident that’s outside the norm of, like, eating three meals a day, it’s fodder for the most outrageous claims that can be made or things that can be said,” said Dennis Deninger, a sports communication professor at Syracuse University.

“They are almost always based on little or no facts.”

One beautiful thing about sports is how that ever-present scoreboard displays only the facts. As he left the course Friday, the fact was that Scheffler was three shots out of the lead and had a very good chance to win this thing.

And yet, this was another of those days when a sports story cascaded well beyond a scoreboard spelling things out in black and white.

“He's the best guy out there right now, both as a player and a person," said John Glenwood of Louisville, as he waited for Scheffler to pass on the 17th fairway. “We're here to support him.”

His friends standing next to him, who didn't want their names used, agreed. They said they were big Scheffler fans.

One was wearing an orange jump suit he bought that morning; the other two were in their brand-new “Free Scottie” T-shirts that might become the 2024 PGA Championship's most-remembered souvenir.

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Scottie Scheffler walks to the tee for the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Scottie Scheffler talks with Wyndham Clark on the 10th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Scottie Scheffler celebrates after a birdie on the 12th hole during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Emily Ferrando wears a T-shirt she bought in the parking lot in support of Scottie Scheffler during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Friday, May 17, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Matt York)