Kentucky Derby 2012: I'll Have Another's Improbable Win Will Never Be Duplicated

I'll Have Another's triumphant outing at the 2012 Kentucky Derby on Saturday afternoon wasn't improbable because of his 15/1 pre-race odds of finishing the 1.25-mile race ahead of the field, but because of a remarkable bit of history that suggested he had no shot at winning the 138th Run for the Roses.

No horse in the history of the May Classic had ever won from post No. 19, until Saturday. Horses bursting through the next-to-last gate all the way on the outside were 0-of-137 coming into this weekend's race.

The chances of a horse winning from post No. 19 had been zero until yesterday because it had never happened. The closer a racehorse starts to the rail, the better off it is to win the Kentucky Derby, history shows.

Only one horse, Liaison, started farther away from the rail than I'll Have Another.

In a way it seems I'll Have Another's final furlong performance served as an odds-defying, history-changing few seconds that may very well never be duplicated again considering it took nearly two centuries for a victor to come from the No. 19 post. 

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"He's an amazing horse. I kept telling everybody, from the first time I met him, I knew he was the one. I knew he was good, I said in an interview, even if they allowed me to pick from the whole rest of the field, I would have stayed with him, 100 percent, no doubt about it." - jockey Mario Gutierrez

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I'll Have Another will be remembered for one of the greatest comeback wins on the final stretch in Kentucky Derby history, but even more so as the only horse to ever do it from the the cursed No. 19 post.

Post No. 17 is the only other of the 20 posts that a horse has never won from. Maybe next year.

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