LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Mystik Dan ran to victory in a tightly contested race at the 150th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, as the 18-1 longshot edged Sierra Leone and Forever Young in a photo finish.

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Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. guided Mystik Dan past runner-up Sierra Leone and Forever Young at the pole, making Kenny McPeek the first trainer since Ben Jones in 1952 to win the Derby and the Kentucky Oaks in the same weekend. McPeek won the Kentucky Oaks for fillies on Friday with Thorpedo Anna.

Saturday’s finish was the 10th win by a nose in Kentucky Derby history and the first since Grindstone edged Cavonnier in 1996.

With Saturday’s victory in the first jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown, Mystik Dan gained his third win in his seventh race, according to The Washington Post. He finished fifth in the Smarty Jones Stakes on New Year’s Day, then first in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 3 and third in the Arkansas Derby on March 30, according to the newspaper.

Third-place finisher Forever Young was ahead of Catching Freedom over the 1 1/4-mile track at Churchill Downs. T O Password finished in fifth place.

Next up: The Preakness in two weeks at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

The unofficial winning time was 2:03.34.

Secretariat still owns the track record with a 1:59.40 finish in the 1973 Derby. Monarchos came close in 2001 with a 1:59.97 time, while Spend a Buck finished in 2:00.20 in 1985.

This year’s purse was a record $5 million and distributed among the top five finishers, ESPN reported. Mystik Dan earned $3.1 million, while the Sierra Leone won $1 million. Forever Young received $500,000 for placing third.

A correct $1 Superfecta bet predicting the order of finish for Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone, Forever Young and Catching Freedom paid $8,254.07, according to The Athletic.

Sierra Leone, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione and trained by Chad Brown, broke from the No. 2 gate at 9-2 odds. The horse excelled earlier this year by winning the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes and the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes.

Brown was 0-for-7 heading into Saturday’s race, according to USA Today. His best finish came in 2018, when Good Magic finished second.

Fierceness, a 3-1 favorite ridden by Hall of Fame jockey John Velázquez, had won his last three races by a combined total of 31 lengths, according to NBC Sports. He won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and took the Florida Derby by 13 1/2 lengths.

The bay colt was battling some Derby history, as no horse had ever won the race starting from the No. 17 post. Fierceness faded down the stretch and finished 15th in the 20-horse field.

Catching Freedom, ridden by Flavien Prat and trained by Brad Cox, went off at 8-1 odds. Coming into the Derby, the colt won three of his five races, including a victory in March at the Louisiana Derby. He finished third and fourth in the races he did not win. Plat rode Country House to victory in the 2019 Kentucky Derby.

Forever Young, ridden by Ryusei Sakai, was a 6-1 shot. No horse bred in Japan has ever won the Derby. The colt won five races across three countries, according to the Louisville Courier Journal -- three in Japan, one in Saudi Arabia and one in the United Arab Emirates.

He clinched his spot in the Kentucky Derby by winning the $1 million, Group 2 UAE Derby on March 30 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai by 2 lengths.

Last year’s winner at Churchill Downs was Mage, a 15-1 shot at post time who defeated Two Phil’s and the favorite, Angel of Empires.

The betting favorite in six of the last 11 races at the Kentucky Derby has won the race, according to NBC Sports. But a post-time favorite has not won since Justify in 2018.

A sentimental favorite at the Derby was Just Steel, trained by 88-year-old D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Derby winner. Lukas was the last trainer to guide a filly -- Winning Colors in 1988 -- to a victory at the Derby, which was his first, according to USA Today. Only two other fillies -- Regret in 1915, and Genuine Risk in 1980 -- have won the race. But Just Steel was a 20-1 shot to win on Derby Day.

The Derby remained without Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, a six-time winner at Churchill Downs between 1997 and 2021, ESPN reported. Baffert is still banned from running horses at tracks owned by Churchill Downs, Inc., and that extends through the 2024 racing season.

The company added that it would re-evaluate Baffert’s status after 2024.

The two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer was originally suspended for two years in June 2021 after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive for a steroid in two separate post-race drug tests. Medina Spirit was disqualified and Mandaloun was named the winner.

Medina Spirit died of a heart attack on Dec. 6, 2021.

Two horses died on Derby Day last year, and 12 animals died in the weeks before and after the race, according to The Associated Press. Churchill Downs has since deepened its dirt racing surface and added to its safety protocols, according to the news organization.

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