Kentucky Derby Results 2015: Reviewing Race Standings and Prize Money Chart

American Pharoah proved he has the requisite toughness to complement his talent for a Triple Crown bid following his victory in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Not extended in his previous races since suffering defeat on his debut, American Pharoah was forced to battle hard to prevail from Firing Line by a length at Churchill Downs in front of a record crowd of 170,513, per Nicholas Godfrey of the Racing Post.

The fighting qualities displayed by American Pharoah delighted owner Ahmed Zayat, who was winning the race for the first time, per Gary Mihoces of USA Today.

Brynn Anderson/Associated Press

Zayat said: “Pharoah is a freak of nature, and for the first time I’m seeing him right now working, working hard. And I knew that if he had the lead, nobody would catch him. He has such brilliance.”

The way the race panned out didn’t give many in the field a chance to get involved, as the first three home occupied those positions throughout. Winning trainer Bob Baffert’s other runner, Dortmund, set the pace.

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

Dortmund had previously twice beaten Firing Line by a head, but Gary Stevens judged his ride well on the eventual runner-up to take the lead in the straight. However, American Pharoah came up strongly on the outside in the hands of Victor Espinoza to get on top near the finish to win the $1.24 million first-place prize.

Total Purse	Winner's Purse	Runner-Up Purse	Third-Place Purse	Fourth-Place Purse	Fifth-Place Purse
$2 million	$1.24 million	$400,000	$200,000	$100,000	$60,000

(Payout info via The Triple Crown.)

Beyond the top three, Frosted showed his recent Grade 1 win in the Wood Memorial Stakes was no fluke by finishing fourth. He stayed on well from the back and may be worth a tilt at the Belmont Stakes over a longer trip in the final leg of the Triple Crown.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Perhaps the only real hard-luck story of the race concerned Materiality. Todd Pletcher’s recent Florida Derby winner missed the break and was unable to occupy his usual front-running position. In the event, he did well to come home in sixth and will be an interesting horse going forward, providing he has no further mishaps at the start. Pletcher’s other fancied contender, Carpe Diem, had no real excuse for finishing 10th.

The South African-trained Mubtaahij was eighth after sitting in mid-division throughout the race and lacking the pace to make a move on the turn for home.

The horse that proved to be the biggest disappointment on the day was Upstart, who finished last. From a wide draw, Upstart was never able to get a decent position, and jockey Jose Ortiz explained the horse’s running, per Darren Rogers of the Kentucky Derby’s official website.

Hans Pennink/Associated Press

Ortiz said: “I had a good trip, but he broke a step slow. I was a little wide on the first turn and then I saved as much ground as I could. At the quarter pole, I had no horse. I don’t think he handled the track.”

Attention now turns to the Preakness Stakes, with American Pharoah looking to take the next step in his bid to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

Joe Drape of The New York Times believes Baffert’s horse has the credentials to win the Triple Crown, writing: “American Pharoah was something else altogether, something that may transcend a single race. He was as a good as Lukas and Mott had said, a colt worthy of reviving Triple Crown hopes.”

Baffert’s previous three Kentucky Derby winners—Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem—all went on to win the Preakness Stakes, and it is going to take something extraordinary to stop American Pharoah emulating those horses at Pimlico on Saturday, May 16.

He is unlikely to have as hard a race in the Preakness, and that will stand him in good stead for the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 6. His Kentucky Derby win suggested he will cope with the step up in trip for the last leg of the Triple Crown, and he has as good a chance of completing that achievement as any horse since Affirmed.