Recap of the 2020 Kentucky Derby
In a year full of unprecedented circumstances in sports, horse racing is not exempt from these different situations. This year, the 146th Kentucky Derby was the second jewel of the Triple Crown, and it took place in September, more than two months after the Belmont Stakes.
The main storyline with this race was the roller coaster of a day for legendary horse trainer, Bob Baffert. Baffert originally had two horses participating in this race, Thousand Words, and the horse I had placing in this race, Authentic.
Unfortunately, before the race could start, Thousand Words was involved in an incident in the paddock where he came to an abrupt halt, reared up, and fell backward. Thousand Words seem okay, as he was able to walk after the incident, but he was clearly not fit to race and was scratched.
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Nevertheless, the race started at about 7:00 EST with 15 horses in the race. Authentic took the lead out of the starting gate and kept it around the turn. After expending much of his energy getting to the front of the pack at the beginning it seemed questionable as to whether or not Authentic could keep his league.
Around the second half of the turn, everyone was waiting for Belmont Stakes winner and Kentucky Derby favorite, Tiz The Law to break out ahead of the pack and take the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Sure enough, out of the turn, Tiz The Law came out of the turn neck and neck with Authentic. The horses were matching each other stride for stride until about halfway down the home stretch. Then, Authentic seemingly found another reserve of energy and pulled in front of Tiz The Law. Authentic would keep his lead all the way to the finish line and win the 2020 Kentucky Derby, and Tiz The Law would place.
This was Baffert’s sixth Kentucky Derby win, tying the record for most Kentucky Derby wins among trainers. The final jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes will take place in four weeks at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
