Kentucky Derby Results: Goldencents and More Horses That Let Us Down

Orb emerged as the winner in the 139th Kentucky Derby on Saturday with Joel Rosario in the saddle after being as far back as 15th in the middle of the race. However, some horses that were expected to run well did not—most notably 7-to-1 contender Goldencents.

After winning his previous four races entering the first leg of the Triple Crown, Verrazano was the pre-Derby favorite. His odds ballooned thereafter, but ultimately, Verrazano was still an 8-to-1 bet.

Despite having a Hall of Fame jockey in John Velazquez and the training of the legendary Todd Pletcher, Verrazano simply never got going. That was at least somewhat due to a gash that Verrazano sustained during the race, though, as documented by LGS Racing (Warning: Photo is mildly graphic.):

Additionally, Itsmyluckyday—who was listed at 9-to-1 just before the starting gates opened—didn't even come close to living up to his namesake.

Below are the complete results from this year's Run for the Roses, followed by several notables that didn't live up to expectations.

Note: All statistics and information, unless otherwise indicated, are 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

Goldencents (Odds: 7-1; Place: 17)

There were so many encouraging signs that indicated Goldencents might ride into the winner's circle. Unfortunately, what would have been an historic, storybook conclusion to Goldencents' bid wasn't meant to be.

Trainer Doug O'Neill won last year's race with I'll Have Another, and his top horse this time around looked exceptional in coming off of a triumph at the Santa Anita Derby.

The speedy colt was stymied by the sloppy, muddy track, showing that his experience training in similar conditions didn't translate to success in competition at Churchill Downs.

It was hard to fathom such a subpar finish for Goldencents, and it thwarted Kevin Krigger's bid to become the first black jockey to win the Derby since 1902.

Ben Roberts of the Lexington Herald-Leader highlighted just how far off the winning pace Goldencents was:

Louisville Cardinals basketball head coach Rick Pitino owns five percent of the horse, which only enhanced hometown sentiment for Goldencents. It was an extremely underwhelming showing for a horse with such favorable odds, and it had to be the biggest disappointment in the field.

Verrazano (Odds: 8-1; Place: 14)

Few would have predicted that Verrazano's finish would correspond precisely with his post position of No. 14.

That's what makes horse racing so thrilling, though. Verrazano looked invincible to begin his young career, which didn't get underway until 2013.

After winning the Grade I Wood Memorial Stakes against top-notch competition, expectations were raised for Pletcher's pupil. Eventually, Revolutionary passed Verrazano as Pletcher's top contender, and Verrazano wound up being a total non-factor.

Of course, the aforementioned injury probably had something to do with it. Lou Monaco of the Daily Racing Form logged what Pletcher had to say after the race:

Odds were ballooning on Verrazano throughout the week, so it's not quite as big of a surprise that he didn't run well. Having said that, this was arguably the best all-around horse in the field with his combination of swiftness and size.

A legitimate bid to win never materialized for whatever reason, as Verrazano suffered his first career loss in lopsided fashion.

Itsmyluckyday (Odds: 9-1; Place: 15)

The Fourth and requisite force to win was not with this three-year-old on Star Wars Day, as Itsmyluckyday trudged through Churchill Downs and never cruised into contention.

A big reason Itsmyluckyday's odds kept dropping ahead of the race was because of a previous victory on a wet track, as Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports alluded to:

Whether it was the atmosphere of intensified stakes or the complexion of the track surface, that past success was not replicated in any way on Saturday.

Itsmyluckyday provided trainer Eddie Plesa Jr. with a golden opportunity to win his maiden Triple Crown event.

Jockey Elvis Trujillo simply lacked the resume of many of the field's top finishers, too, which is at least part of why Itsmyluckyday didn't live up to the increasing buzz he generated late in the week.