Kentucky Derby 2012 Results: Liason and Most Surprising Finishes

The 2012 Kentucky Derby results are in, and the race was full of surprises.

One of the biggest surprises of the fast-paced race was 56/1 long shot Liason finishing in sixth place ahead of Union Rags—one of the heavy favorites to win the race at the start.

The only other horse that had worse odds than Liason was Prospective, who finished in 18th place, much more in line with his expectations.

Trainer Bob Baffert was the only person who wasn't surprised by Liason's performance. He felt good about the colt's chances heading into the race, despite an atrocious showing at Santa Anita.

Per the Washington Post, Baffert spoke before the race: 

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"Santa Anita, he just hated that place. He worked well the other day at Hollywood Park, today he went around there and looked like a different horse. Like the horse he was before. He still has a mountain to climb, but I figure he’s going to work in here, get a chance. End of the December, he looked like he was one of the Derby favorites, but he’s had just really rough outs there at Santa Anita."

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Here are the rest of the surprising finishes from the main event at Churchill Downs.

Union Rags Finishes in Seventh Place (5/1 odds)

Union Rags was supposed to challenge Bodemeister for the win, but instead he fell to the back of the back early on and never recovered.

He ended up making a strong charge at the end of the race to finish in seventh place, but clearly this wasn't the result jockey Julien Leparoux was hoping for when the race began.

Per the Washington Post:

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"He broke a step a step slow and he usually breaks well from the gate," Leparoux said. "Then he got bumped and we dropped far back...I had nowhere to go where I could make a move. I knew it was going to be tough to come back."

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Union Rags' Derby performance will not soon be forgotten, and for all the wrong reasons.

Went the Day Well Finishes in Fourth Place (30/1 odds)

This impressive colt earned an automatic invitation to the two remaining Triple Crown races with his fourth-place finish. 

He did it with a furious finish, outpacing many of the favorites down the home stretch. He could have done even better if not for a poor start.

Philippe Lasseur, manager of the Keane Stud Farm that owns Went the Day Well, wasn't sure his horse was going to finish well, Via PoughkeepsieJournal.com:  "After the last turn, I thought he was done with (because) he was so far behind. I couldn’t believe how strong he came on at the end."

Dr. Winslow B. Stevens, who runs Keane Stud Farm with Lasseur is optimistic about Went the Day Well's chances to compete in the final two legs of the Triple Crown: "Given his strong finish in this race, I certainly think he’s a good candidate for the Belmont. I’m hoping (the owners) continue on the Triple Crown trail."

I'll Have Another Finishes in First Place (15/1 odds)

I had to save the best for last, right?

The way this colt finished the race was a thing of beauty. The way he put Bodemeister in his rear-view mirror was downright nasty.

I'll have another finished the race as the first horse in the 138-year history of this prestigious event to win coming from the No. 19 gate (h/t SI.com). That in and of itself is surprising enough, but nobody really expected him to win the race no matter where he lined up.

The other big surprise coming out of this result was that Mario Gutierrez had only just started riding I'll Have Another three months ago after spending most of his young career in Canada.

Gutierrez spoke to the media after his stunning win, via the Los Angeles Times: "All jockeys dream they will one day be in the Kentucky Derby. I wasn't thinking it would be the next year."

Trainer Doug O'Neil is excited about the win and has already set his sights on the Preakness Stakes.

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We're going to Maryland. It's incredible, O'Neill said. When you tell people you're in the horse racing game, they ask you if you've ever won a Kentucky Derby. Now I can say, 'Yes, I have.'

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Here are the full results from this exciting race.

Finish	Horse	Jockey	Post	Odds
1	I'll Have Another	Mario Gutierrez	19	15-1
2	Bodemeister	Mike Smith	6	4-1
3	Dullahan	Kent Desormeaux	5	12-1
4	Went The Day Well	John Velazquez	13	30-1
5	Creative Cause	Joel Rosario	8	11-1
6	Liason	Martin Garcia	20	56-1
7	Union Rags	Julien Leparoux	4	5-1
8	Rousing Sermon	Jose Lezcano	7	40-1
9	Hansen	Ramon Dominguez	14	13-1
10	Daddy Nose Best	Garrett Gomez	10	14-1
11	Optimizer	Jon Court	2	42-1
12	Alpha	Rajiv Maragh	11	19-1
13	El Padrino	Rafael Bejarano	16	29-1
14	Done Talking	Sheldon Russell	17	39-1
15	Sabercat	Corey Nakatani	18	37-1
16	Gemologist	Javier Castellano	15	18-1
17	Trinniberg	Willie Martinez	9	44-1
18	Prospective	Luis Contreras	12	57-1
19	Take Charge Indy	Calvin Borel	3	11-1
20	Daddy Long Legs	Luis Contreras	12	57-1

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