Photo Finish: 150th Kentucky Derby Final Results, Standings, & Payouts

The Kentucky Derby is America’s longest continuously held sporting event, and it turned 150 years old on Saturday, May 4, 2024.

The Derby has survived several challenges over the years, including two world wars, the Great Depression, and pandemics, such as the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

As many horse-racing fans know, Derby Day is the first Saturday in May and consists of fancy hats, fans dressed in their Sunday best, mint juleps, and the performance of the iconic song 'My Old Kentucky Home.'

Of course, the big race ends with a hand-sewn garland of red roses draped over the Derby winner.

“I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s on their bucket list to attend and the one horse race that they watch every year,” trainer Todd Pletcher, a two-time Derby winner, said, per AP News.

Trainer Brad Cox, a Louisville native, explained how the process of entering the Kentucky Derby works. “It’s very tough to keep [the horses] on the path to get to the Derby, get into the Derby and then, hopefully, it all goes well, and you get a good, clean trip," he said.

Last year, Mage, a 15-1 shot, won the big race, but who took home the title at the 150th Kentucky Derby?

The favorite, Fierceness, started off strong, coming out in front for the first 1/4 of the race. Track Phantom then took over, with Just Steel and Fierceness close behind.

Fierceness moved up on the outside in the home stretch, and as the horses approached the finish line, there were three horses fighting for the title, resulting in a photo finish.

In the end, Mystik Dan, took it by a nose (perhaps by a nostril.)

While his horse, West Saratoga, didn't win the Derby, Larry Demeritte, a trainer who is in his 70s, still made history as the first Black trainer in the Kentucky Derby in decades.

"My dad was a horse trainer, and he put me on the horse's back when I was pretty young... I know them before I know myself, and I know I wanted to be in the horse industry," he recalled of his childhood. "I said, 'Well, I don't want to be a jockey because their careers don't last long. I know I'm not going to be a worker, so I have to be a horse trainer because I could do that til' I die.'"

Demeritte marked the first black trainer to participate in the Derby in 35 years. Before 1989, there hadn't been a Black trainer since 1951.

"I feel like I'm here for a purpose. And I think this is my purpose, the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life... Anything is possible," he said ahead of the race. "But you have to work at it, you know? That's the way I look at life."

The final results are as follows:

1. Mystik Dan
2. Sierra Leone
3. Forever Young
4. Catching Freedom

The Kentucky Derby prize money for the top five finishers is as follows:

1st place: $3.1 million

2nd place: $1 million

3rd place: $500,000

4th place: $250,000

5th place: $150,000

“These record purse increases are a symbol of the health of horse racing in Kentucky,” CEO of Churchill Downs Incorporated Bill Carstanjen said in a statement. “Churchill Downs Incorporated’s over $1 billion investment into live and historical horse racing in Kentucky over the last five years has meaningfully strengthened the entire Kentucky Derby Week and year-round racing program.”

Many celebrities were spotted at this year's Kentucky Derby, including NFL star Travis Kelce, who dressed to the nines. He sported a pinstriped white suit and a black Derby hat.

Wynonna Judd, Jimmy Fallon, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Thomas Rhett, Martha Stewart, and Amon-Ra St. Brown were among some of the other big-name stars in attendance.

Let's take a look back at the past Kentucky Derby winners:

• 2023: Mage
• 2022: Rich Strike
• 2021: Mandaloun
• 2020: Authentic
• 2019: Country House
• 2018: Justify
• 2017: Always Dreaming
• 2016: Nyquist
• 2015: American Pharoah
• 2014: California Chrome
• 2013: Orb
• 2012: I'll Have Another
• 2011: Animal Kingdom
• 2010: Super Saver

Congratulations to Mystic Dan on winning the 150th Kentucky Derby.