LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The inside rail at Churchill Downs is home sweet home for Mystik Dan.
It was there that he slipped through traffic to win the Kentucky Derby. And on Saturday, with his regular rider recovering from injury and his season at a crossroads, it was there again that he found just enough room — and just enough fight — to flash back to form and surge to victory in the Grade II $500,000 Lukas Classic.
This was a win that meant something.
The 4-year-old colt made history in May when he became the first Derby winner to come back to Churchill and win since 1998 in the Blame Stakes. But since then, he’d finished fourth in the Stephen Foster and fourth in the Arlington Million on grass.
His usual jockey, Brian Hernandez Jr., was back at home recovering from a spill six days ago that left him with seven broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a lacerated liver.
So, when substitute rider Francisco Arrieta guided Mystik Dan through a narrow opening in mid-stretch and dropped him to the rail for one of his signature late charges, the moment felt bigger than just another stakes win.
“I had so much horse in the stretch,” Arrieta said. “I just had to stay patient and wait for the spot to open. When I saw it, I sent him — and he just powered through. He’s such a classy horse. I’m very thankful Kenny (McPeek) and the owners trusted me with the ride.”
Arrieta, best known for his hard-hat grind on the Kentucky-Arkansas-Louisiana circuit, hadn’t ridden Mystik Dan before. But McPeek didn’t hesitate to call on him. Hernandez was the only rider to pilot Mystik Dan in all but two of his prior starts, including wins in the Kentucky Derby, the Southwest Stakes, and the Blame earlier this year. The colt hadn’t won in his last three tries, but McPeek believed he was sitting on a big one.
And they got it — with a classic Mystik Dan trip.
He caught Disarm at the sixteenth pole and pulled clear by three-quarters of a length in 1:49.25 for 1 1/8 miles on a fast track. The win was his fourth at Churchill Downs and his fourth stakes score — bringing his career record to five wins in 16 starts and nearly $4.82 million in earnings. He paid $5.14 to win.
McPeek called it “a great prep” for the Breeders’ Cup, with the $1 million Dirt Mile and the Classic both under consideration.
“This horse just exudes class,” McPeek said. “He acts like an old professional. A lot of credit goes to the Churchill team, Greg Geier and his rider Robby Albarado. They had him ready.”
Then McPeek turned to the man who wasn’t there.
“All of us are thinking about Brian today,” he said. “This was for him.”
It was fitting, then, that Mystik Dan delivered this performance in the Lukas Classic — a race named for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who passed away this summer at age 89. Lukas’ wife, Laurie, presented the winning trophy, with many friends and family.
After a short run of Derby winners in prior years who hadn’t won after their big moment in the garland of roses, Mystik Dan proved again that his Derby was no fluke.
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