Kentucky Derby 2015: How Start of Race Impacted American Pharoah, Final Results

The Kentucky Derby is the biggest event on the thoroughbred racing calendar every year. The way American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund dominated the race from start to finish may have also made it the most unusual event of the year.

Those three horses were in the first three positions at every point of call in the race from the moment the starting gate opened. They were never challenged for their position even though the Derby is often seen as one of the best races for horses that like to come from off the pace.

It is quite unusual for a horse to remain at or near the top from the quarter-mile mark and beyond, let alone all three of the top finishers.

For the majority of the race, third-place finisher Dortmund had the lead with Firing Line running second and American Pharoah in third. The only thing that would have been more unusual than Saturday's results would have been if the three horses stayed in those original positions and American Pharoah had not rallied with his impressive stretch run.

The grouping of the top three horses is almost shocking, considering the nature and quality of the horses in the race. The Kentucky Derby normally will have two or more fast horses that jump to the front early and engage in a speed duel.

While that can seem devastating because a battle at the start will normally take a lot out of the horses that engage, the thought is that one horse will emerge from that battle with a clear lead and then be able to slow down while maintaining the lead.

In this case, Dortmund, Firing Line and American Pharoah all got off to unimpeded starts despite the 18-horse field and were able to get to the front without much of a challenge. Once Dortmund had earned his lead by a head at the quarter-mile mark, jockey Martin Garcia was able to push his advantage to a full length at the half-mile mark without extending himself too much.

The fractions in the race bear this out. Dortmund got to the quarter pole in 23.24 seconds, and the times of 47.34 and 1:11.29 for the half-mile and three-quarter mile were not excessive.

That was just fine with Gary Stevens and Victor Espinoza, who were aboard Firing Line and American Pharoah, respectively. All three jockeys knew that they had made it to the top without draining their horses, and all three were experienced and talented enough to not make a mistake by asking their horses to hit their best run too early.

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If another horse like Frosted, Danzig Moon or Materiality was going to make a push for the lead on the back stretch or on the far turn, they would deal with it. However, that scenario did not come to fruition.

Frosted and Materiality both made impressive runs down the stretch, rallying from 15th and 14th, respectively, at the three-quarter mile mark. Frosted finished fourth and nearly caught Dortmund while Materiality finished sixth. Danzig Moon was forwardly placed throughout the race—no worse than sixth throughout—but was unable to rally and finished fifth.

American Pharoah would almost certainly like the same kind of trip when he runs in the Preakness on May 16. Getting near the lead early means that he would not have to battle through traffic and use up a lot of energy early.

However, the tight turns at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore usually favor horses with good positioning rather than stretch runners, so there may be quite a few more horses trying for the lead at the quarter- and half-mile marks. 

That may make it much harder to get to the front of the pack and stay there before the horses turn for home.

That's part of the reason the Triple Crown races are such a difficult test. Horses must prove their versatility in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes if one is going to win all three glamour events and earn "super horse" status.

Everything broke right for American Pharoah in the Derby. He may not be as lucky the next time around.