Kentucky Derby 2016: Final Results, Standings, Payouts and Replay Highlights

Nyquist, the heavy favorite to win the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby, prevailed Saturday evening and remained undefeated in his eighth race, holding off a late charge from Exaggerator.  

The Derby tweeted the image of Nyquist crossing the line:

And NBC Sports shared the entire race replay:

Exaggerator finished in second place, while Gun Runner rounded out the top three. Here's the final order of finish:

Place	Horse	Post	Lengths Behind	Win Payout	Place Payout	Show Payout
1	Nyquist	13	--	$6.60	$4.80	$3.60
2	Exaggerator	11	1 1/4	-	$5.40	$4.20
3	Gun Runner	5	4 1/2	-	-	$6.00
4	Mohaymen	14	4 1/2
5	Suddenbreakingnews	2	4 1/2
6	Destin	9	6 3/4
7	Brody's Cause	19	9 1/4
8	Mo Tom	4	10
9	Lani	8	10 1/2
10	Mor Spirit	17	14 1/4
11	My Man Sam	6	14 1/4
12	Tom's Ready	12	16 3/4
13	Creator	3	18
14	Outwork	15	18 1/4
15	Danzing Candy	20	19 3/4
16	Trojan Nation	1	27 1/2
17	Oscar Nominated	7	33 1/4
18	Majesto	18	37 1/2
19	Whitmore	10	38
20	Shagaf	16	DNF

Danzing Candy set the early pace, and Gun Runner got off to a strong start from the inside as expected, with little speed in that section of the field; however, jockey Mario Gutierrez perfectly managed Nyquist's tactical speed and kept his horse in the top three without overtaxing him. 

That set up Nyquist to make his final push on the final turn, and he blew past Danzing Candy and Gun Runner. But Exaggerator came roaring up behind him and looked as though he might threaten to overcome the favorite. His late kick came up short, however, as Nyquist had the legs to sustain his pace and earn the victory.

Nyquist trainer Doug O'Neill spoke about his horse's impressive race after the Derby, per At The Races:

Nyquist had a sparkling reputation coming into the race. As SportsCenter on Twitter noted, "Nyquist is the 27th horse to run in the Derby undefeated and the seventh of the 16 undefeated Derby favorites to win."

Nyquist was also the fourth consecutive favorite to win the Derby, per Dan Wolken of USA Today. And it was also the fourth time that Nyquist has defeated Exaggerator.

But it's a different number that the horse racing world is now interested in: the number three, as in the famed Triple Crown. As Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports noted, Nyquist has a legitimate shot to follow in American Pharoah's steps:

After 37 years without a Triple Crown winner, could the horse racing world have Triple Crowns in consecutive years? It would be only the second time in history that feat happened (Seattle Slew in 1977, Affirmed in 1978).

Nyquist still has to win the Preakness before that talk can begin in earnest, of course. But the horse has been perfect to this point, and barring an off day, it's hard to project a horse capable of beating him at this point.

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