Kentucky Derby 2018: Race Replay, Highlights Analysis and Prize-Money Info

The 2018 Kentucky Derby may have been the coming-out party for one of the most spectacular thoroughbred racehorses in recent memory.

Justify came into the race on Saturday as a 5-2 betting choice after he had been established as a 3-1 favorite coming into the week. He had never won a race outside of the state of California, had never run in a heavy downpour and had run against relatively small fields.

In addition to those factors, Justify was trying to win the Run for the Roses even though had only competed in three previous races, and all of them had been in 2018. He had not raced as a two-year-old in 2017, and that lack of racing experience was significant. The last horse to win the Run for the Roses without competing as a two-year-old was Apollo, a colt who had done his racing in 1882.

That 136-year-old trend had been the focal point of many stories leading up to the Kentucky Derby, but the story coming out of the race was the performance of Justify. He won the Derby by 2 ½ lengths over Good Magic, and it was a most impressive showing.

Kentucky Derby Payout (Based on $2 Bet), per NBC Sports

1st: Justify (Win: $7.80; Place: $6.00; Show: $4.40)

2nd: Good Magic (Place: $9.20; Show: $6.60)

3rd: Audible (Show: $5.80)

Kentucky Derby Results List

Win ($1.24 million): Justify (2:04.20); Jockey: Mike Smith; Trainer: Bob Baffert

Place ($400,000): Good Magic (-2 ½ lengths); Jockey: Jose Ortiz; Trainer: Chad Brown

Show ($200,000): Audible (-2 ½ lengths); Jockey: Javier Castellano; Trainer: Todd Pletcher

4th ($100,000): Instilled Regard (-4 ¼ lengths); Jockey: Drayden Van Dyke; Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer

5th ($60,000): My Boy Jack (-7 lengths); Jockey: Kent Desormeaux; Trainer: J. Keith Desormeaux

6th: Bravazo (-8 lengths); Jockey: Luis Contreras; Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

7th: Hofburg (-8 ¾ lengths); Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.; Trainer: William Mott

8th: Lone Sailor (-9 ¼ lengths); Jockey: James Graham; Trainer: Thomas Amoss

9th: Vino Rosso (-10 ½ lengths); Jockey: John Velazquez; Trainer: Todd Pletcher

10th: Solomini (-11 lengths); Jockey: Flavien Prat; Trainer: Bob Baffert

11th: Firenze Fire (-23 ½ lengths); Jockey: Paco Lopez; Trainer: Jason Servis

12th: Bolt d'Oro (-24 ¼ lengths); Jockey: Victor Espinoza; Trainer: Mick Ruis

13th: Flameaway (-30 ½ lengths); Jockey: Jose Lezcano; Trainer: Mark Casse

14th: Enticed (-34 ¾ lengths); Jockey: Junior Alvarado; Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin

15th: Promises Fulfilled (-39 ¾ lengths); Jockey: Corey Lanerie; Trainer: Dale Romans

16th: Free Drop Billy (-41 lengths); Jockey: Robby Albarado; Trainer: Dale Romans

17th: Noble Indy (-42 ¼ lengths); Jockey: Florent Geroux; Trainer: Todd Pletcher

18th: Combatant (-42 ¾ lengths); Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr.; Trainer: Steven Asmussen

19th: Magnum Moon (-49 ½ lengths); Jockey: Luis Saez; Trainer: Todd Pletcher

20th: Mendelssohn (-73 ¼ lengths); Jockey: Ryan Moore; Trainer: Aidan O'Brien

Garry Jones/Associated Press/Associated Press

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert had wanted Justify to come out of the No. 7 spot in the starting gate quickly because he did not want his horse to get caught up in the traffic that comes with a 20-horse field. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith was able to coax a sharp start out of Justify, and he quickly settled in on the shoulder of speedball Promises Fulfilled.

Justify avoided the traffic, and he stayed right behind the leader throughout the first half of the race. The hot pace could have tired out a lesser horse since the first half-mile was run in 45.77 seconds, but Justify had plenty left in the tank when he took the lead with three-eighths of a mile to run.

He held off Bolt d'Oro with little trouble and then withstood a challenge from Good Magic at the head of the stretch.

Smith had given his mount a breather after getting to the lead, but once Good Magic started to make his run, the jockey asked Justify for a little more, and he turned back the challenge with relative ease at a time of 2:04.20.

The winning performance thrilled Baffert, who trained American Pharoah when he won the Triple Crown in 2015.

"I was just in awe of the performance," Baffert said, per Beth Harris of the Associated Press (h/t Boston Globe). "He just put himself up there with the greats."

Chad Brown, the trainer of Good Magic, was pleased with the way his horse ran in the 1 ¼-mile race. However, it simply was not good enough to beat the tremendous effort of Justify.

"I'm so very proud of this horse," Brown said, per Mike Welsch of the Daily Racing Form. "It was his first time on this kind of track, he'd never even worked in the slop before. Then to attend a pace that fast for that far going a mile and a quarter, which a lot of people questioned he was capable of. He really came through. His breeding came through. His heart came through. He ran the race of his life. He was just second best."

Mendelssohn came into the race as one of the horses that had been given a chance to win. He had won the UAE Derby by 18 ½ lengths, and he was trained by Aidan O'Brien and ridden by Ryan Moore. Those two form one of the best trainer-jockey combinations in Europe.

However, Mendelssohn got caught up in the traffic early in the race and ended up in the back of the pack after getting slammed. He was never able to recover.

"He got beat up out of the gate and proceeded to check on the first turn and was never in a good place," Moore said, per Harris. "The race was over for him then."

Justify was on top of his game in the Kentucky Derby. If he can come close to that performance May 19 in the Preakness Stakes, he will almost certainly have the first two jewels of the Triple Crown.

That would set up a highly anticipated Belmont Stakes on the second Saturday in June. If it does, Justify will have a chance to become the second Triple Crown winner in the last four years.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark unless otherwise noted.