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Authentic upsets Tiz the Law to win 146th Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Authentic upset heavy favorite Tiz the Law to win the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Authentic, an 8-1 shot ridden by John Velazquez, held off the Belmont Stakes winner to capture the second leg of the Triple Crown. The Derby victory at Churchill Downs was the third for Velazquez and a record-tying sixth for legendary trainer Bob Baffert.

Baffert tied the record set by Ben Jones, WDRB reported.

Mr. Big News, a 46-1 longshot, finished third on a day when no fans were in the grandstands or the infield for the fabled race.

Authentic covered the 1¼ mile track in 2:00.61, the seventh-fastest time ever in the Derby, ESPN reported. The colt is the first wire-to-wire winner in the Derby since 2002, when War Emblem won.

Tiz the Law, coming out of the No. 17 post at 3-5 odds, had been the heaviest Kentucky Derby favorite in 28 years, Forbes reported.

“Johnny V. gave them the most incredible ride,” Baffert told reporters after the race. “The training was lights out. He was fresh. He’s a good horse, he’s our No. 1 pick from the beginning, and here we are. The greatest race in the world, and I feel very blessed and fortunate.”

“Obviously, Bob, from the beginning, said ‘I’ve got a good one for you.’” Velazquez said. “This is it.”

Baffert also trained Derby winners Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), American Pharoah (2015) and Justify (2018).

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it was the first time since 1945 that the Run for the Roses had not been contested on the first Saturday in May. In 1945 the race was run on June 9. The only other time the race was not run in May was on April 29, 1901.

Concerns over COVID-19 also meant there were no fans in the stands at Churchill Downs to watch the Triple Crown race. The Derby, normally the first jewel of thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown for 3-year-olds, is the second major racing event this year. The Belmont Stakes, usually the final Triple Crown race, was run June 20 and was won in front of empty grandstands by favored Tiz the Law.

The Preakness, which has traditionally been the middle event among the Triple Crown races, will be held Oct. 3 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The race also will be run without fans, creating a spectator-free sweep of the three Triple Crown races this year due to COVID-19.

Saturday’s Derby field of 15 horses was the fewest at Churchill Downs in 17 years, Forbes reported. Less than an hour to post, Thousand Words was scratched after the horse reared up and lost its saddle in the paddock area. The horse flipped and fell on Baffert’s assistant, Jimmy Barnes, breaking his arm, WDRB reported.

Earlier, the field was thinned out when Finnick the Fierce was scratched because of a foot issue Friday and King Guillermo was scratched the day before because of a fever.

For the 100th time since 1921, as horses paraded to the post, the song, “My Old Kentucky Home” was played before the Derby. Only this time, there were no fans at Churchill Downs. This year, however, a moment of silence was observed before Kentucky’s official state song was played

Tiz the Law was trying to become the first horse since Justify in 2018 to win all three Triple Crown races. The others winners: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978) and American Pharoah (2015).

This year’s race was marked by protesters outside the track, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. The demonstrators were marching to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old woman who was fatally shot by members of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department on March 13. Protesters had wanted the Derby to be canceled.

Protesters gathered outside the fence at Churchill Downs about an hour before the Derby’s post time. Several police officers stood inside the fence surrounding Churchill Downs, the Courier-Journal reported.

Protesters with Until Freedom marched to the back of the track, where they made noise outside the horse barns, the newspaper reported.