Kentucky Derby 2015: Full Results and Analysis from American Pharoah's Victory

American Pharoah can spell his name however he darn well pleases after winning the 2015 Kentucky Derby.

In the weeks leading up to the Run for the Ruses, some astute observers noted that one of the favorites had a misspelling. American Pharoah's owners chalked it up to a contest in which fans could determine the colt's moniker.

After Saturday, the only label that matters for the three-year-old is Kentucky Derby champion. He withstood a furious challenge from Firing Line and managed to cross the tape a mere length ahead. Here are the full results from the race:

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

Expectations couldn't have been any higher for American Pharoah entering the Derby. His owner, Ahmed Zayat, had overseen three previous runners-up at the event, and trainer Bob Baffert had three Derby wins in his own right.

American Pharoah blazed quite the trail on his road to Churchill Downs, winning four graded stakes races, and he didn't disappoint, becoming the third favorite in as many years to capture the Derby title, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Andrew Beyer of The Washington Post wrote highly of jockey Victor Espinoza, whom he felt ran the perfect race:

"

American Pharoah was in the best position of the three. He is a natural front-runner, but as jockey Victor Espinoza thought about the Kentucky Derby weeks ago, he told himself, "If I'm going to be on the lead, they're going to go after me." So in the Arkansas Derby, he let American Pharoah sit behind another speed horse before he took command. That successful experiment gave him the confidence that he could sit behind Dortmund and Firing Line. It was basically the same position from which he won last year's Derby on California Chrome.

"

After the race, Baffert talked about the pain of his past Derby disappointments and how he knew American Pharoah was a chance to turn that all around.

"When you get beat like that, all these seconds, you get to a point in your life, maybe it's not just going to happen for me," he said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "And then they sent me this horse. And I thought, 'Wow, here's my chance. Don't mess it up, Bob.'"

The race seemingly eliminated any doubt that might have existed about American Pharoah.

Some wondered whether he could win a close race after he was hardly tested at the Rebel Stakes and the Arkansas Derby. Well, he came from behind around the final turn, overtaking Dortmund and Firing Line and holding off Firing Line down the final stretch. American Pharoah could've very easily crumbled under the pressure, but he rose to the occasion and then some.

He also demonstrated the kind of speed and stamina that could have him seriously challenge for the Triple Crown.

American Pharoah got stronger the longer the Kentucky Derby went on, and his fastest gear was faster than that with which any other horse could have countered. Both of those qualities should come in handy at the Preakness Stakes—a smaller, quicker track—and the Belmont Stakes—the longest Triple Crown track.

In terms of pure quality, American Pharoah might be superior to California Chrome, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes before faltering at Belmont. What could prove troublesome for American Pharoah is the fact that the overall pool of talent is deeper this year.

Add that to the normal pitfalls for any Triple Crown challenger, and American Pharoah has a long way to go to prove he's different from all of the horses who fell short before him.