Kentucky Derby Results: Recapping the Exciting Action from 139th Race

Orb won the 139th annual Kentucky Derby on Saturday with a time of 2:02.89, beating out Golden Soul and Revolutionary by a few lengths on a muddy track at Churchill Downs. 

The Kentucky Derby on Twitter made the announcement:

Anticipation for this race reached a fevered pitch throughout the afternoon as the rain poured down onto the track, which had been downgraded to "sloppy" earlier in the day, per the Huffington Post:

The heavy rain didn't dampen the spirits of those attending the race, however, and the yearly parade of remarkable hats was certainly not affected by the conditions. Yahoo! Sports captured one of the craziest hats you'll ever see:

Now, back to the actual race.

Verrazano and Falling Sky got off to a hot start, which wasn't surprising considering their reputations as sprinters.

After the start, Palace Malice took a huge lead, but Orb and a host of others caught him on the third turn. 

Orb took the final few furlongs by the scruff of the neck and pulled away from the pack with a furious finish—one that demonstrated this horse's prestigious bloodlines.

This was the second time that a horse had won from the No. 16 post in the past three years, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Here is a look at the final standings, courtesy of KentuckyDerby.com. 

Place	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Post
1	Orb	Joel Rosario	Claude R. McGaughey III	16
2	Golden Soul	Robby Albarado	Dallas Stewart	4
3	Revolutionary	Calvin Borel	Todd Pletcher	3
4	Normandy Invasion	Javier Castellano	Chad Brown	5
5	Mylute	Rosie Napravnik	Tom Amoss	6
6	Oxbow	Gary Stevens	D. Wayne Lukas	2
7	Lines of Battle	Ryan Moore	Aidan O'Brien	11
8	Will Take Charge	Jon Court	D. Wayne Lukas	17
9	Charming Kitten	Edgar Prado	Todd Pletcher	15
10	Giant Finish	Jose L. Espinoza	Anthony W. Dutrow	7
11	Overanalyze	Rafael Bejarano	Todd Pletcher	9
12	Palace Malice	Mike Smith	Todd Pletcher	10
13	Java's War	Julien Leparoux	Kenny McPeek	19
14	Verrazano	John R. Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	14
15	Itsmyluckyday	Elvis Trujillo	Eddie Plesa, Jr.	12
16	Frac Daddy	Victor Lebron	Kenny McPeek	18
17	Goldencents	Kevin Krigger	Doug O'Neill	8
18	Vyjack	Garrett Gomez	Rudy Rodriguez	20
19	Falling Sky	Luis Saez	John Terranova II	13

Orb As a Triple Crown Contender

Heading into the race, Orb was highly touted as an elite horse. His pedigree is incredible, and he had won four straight races heading into the Derby.

Now that this horse has so boldly proclaimed itself as a Derby champion by absolutely destroying the field at Churchill Downs—in horrible conditions, no less—the Triple Crown looks to be attainable. 

It surely helps Orb's cause that jockey Joel Rosario is one of the hottest jockeys on the planet. 

Still, there hasn't been a Triple Crown-winning horse since 1978.  

This horse proved a formidable opponent to this seemingly impossible task with his performance at Churchill Downs, and the storyline from now until the Preakness Stakes will be whether or not Orb can finally break the 35-year drought. 

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