2015 Kentucky Derby Results: Triple Crown Outlook After Reviewing Race Chart

Cue the Triple Crown watch.

On Saturday, American Pharoah, the favorite at the Kentucky Derby, proved why he was so highly touted coming into the first leg of the Triple Crown. With Victor Espinoza in the saddle, the Bob Baffert-trained horse outlasted Firing Line to claim victory.

Another of Baffert's horses, Dortmund, finished third. Here's a look at the complete results table:

Place	No.	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Lengths
1	18	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	-----
2	10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	1
3	8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	3
4	15	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	3 1/4
5	5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	6 1/2
6	3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	7 3/4
7	14	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	8 3/4
8	6	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillon	Mike de Kock	9 1/2
9	13	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	10 1/4
10	2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	11
11	21	Frammento	Corey Nakatani	Nick Zito	12
12	9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	12 3/4
13	17	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	15 1/2
14	1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	15 1/2
15	20	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	15 3/4
16	16	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	19 1/4
17	4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	35
18	19	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	60 1/2
	7	El Kabeir	Calvin Borel	John Terranova	SCR
	11	Stanford	Florent Geroux	Todd Pletcher	SCR
	12	International Star	Miguel Mena	Michael Maker	SCR

In case you missed it, you can view the entire race in the video below:

Winning by a full length is especially impressive against a strong field. The win was the fifth in six races for American Pharoah, and despite a relatively strong test from Firing Line, the winner of the Derby is now the horse to beat at the Preakness Stakes. 

He has to win there before we take the Triple Crown talk more seriously.

As most will remember, California Chrome took the horse racing world on a magical journey in 2014. He won two-thirds of the Triple Crown before falling short at the Belmont Stakes.

California Chrome's story was a rags-to-riches fairy tale come true. His likable owners, his trainer and his modest rise to thoroughbred racing made him the centerpiece of one of the year's best sports stories.

American Pharoah has a different dynamic.

Baffert has already had a great deal of success as a trainer. American Pharoah became the fourth of Baffert's horses to win the Kentucky Derby. His horses have won the Preakness five times and the Belmont Stakes once.

There's no underdog for the world to get behind in this one. That said, the horse might just be good enough to do what hasn't been done since 1978. His jockey, Espinoza, was also the man who guided California Chrome to victory at Churchill Downs in 2014. That experience could be invaluable in another close race.

ESPN Stats and Info points out something else American Pharoah accomplished that bodes well for his chances to continue winning.

Overcoming adversity or less-than ideal post positions is something he may need to do moving forward.

Lastly, you have to love the way American Pharoah closed. He ran third for much of the Derby but turned on the jets in the last third of the race to outrun two very talented horses. Oftentimes, the most difficult portion of the Triple Crown is the Belmont because of its length.

With American Pharoah saving his best for late, that has to offer some reassurance that he could be good on a longer track. American Pharoah's biggest problem could be the Preakness. It's the shortest track of the three Triple Crown races.

If he gets off to another slow start, the track at Pimlico may not give him the room to recover. We'll find out on May 16 if American Pharoah can rise to the occasion.