Who is up and who is down after an unforgettable 2024 Kentucky Derby

Who is up and who is down after an unforgettable 150th running of the Kentucky Derby:

▪ Up: Kenny McPeek. For the veteran trainer from Lexington, last weekend permanently altered how his career will be viewed.

When McPeek’s Thorpedo Anna won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, followed by the trainer’s Mystik Dan claiming the Derby in a three-horse photo finish Saturday with Sierra Leone (second) and Forever Young (third), it pushed the Tates Creek High School graduate and University of Kentucky alum into newly rarefied air for a trainer.

McPeek became the first trainer to claim the Oaks/Derby double in the same year since Ben Jones, the iconic Calumet Farm conditioner, did it in 1952 with Real Delight (Oaks) and Hill Gail (Derby).

With Mystik Dan’s Derby win following victories by the McPeek-trained Sarava in the 2002 Belmont Stakes and Swiss Skydiver in the 2020 Preakness, the trainer has now achieved the “career Triple Crown.”

“Goosebumps,” McPeek said Saturday, when asked to reflect on the magnitude of his latest achievements.

▪ Down: Chad Brown. The Kentucky Derby gods continue to torment Brown.

With the hard-closing Sierra Leone edged out of victory by Mystik Dan’s nose, the trainer is now 0-for-8 in the Derby with two second-place finishes, a third, a fourth and a fifth.

“You get beat a nose in the Kentucky Derby, it’s a tough one” to take, Brown said Saturday.

▪ Up: Brian Hernandez Jr. Long more accomplished at his craft than celebrated in his profession, the Kentucky-based jockey rewarded the faith of his longtime patron, Kenny McPeek, by riding Thorpedo Anna and Mystik Dan to their victories.

The gutty, ground-saving ride along the rail by the 38-year-old Hernandez on Mystik Dan was all but universally seen as the difference between winning and losing the Kentucky Derby. Afterward McPeek jokingly implored the media not to write about how impressive a ride it had been so other trainers won’t hire Hernandez away.

“But I guess that cat is out of the bag, isn’t it?” McPeek said.

▪ Down: John Velzaquez. When the veteran jockey booted the gritty Medina Spirit to victory in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, it moved Velazquez to an elite level in Derby history.

That victory made “Johnny V.,” only the fourth jockey with at least four Kentucky Derby wins, joining legends Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack (five each) and Bill Shoemaker (four).

Subsequently, through no fault of Velazquez, the jockey lost his fourth Derby win when a postrace test showed a banned substance in the system of the Bob Baffert-trained Medina Spirit and the horse was disqualified.

At age 52, the clock is ticking on opportunities for Velazquez to “get back” the fourth Kentucky Derby win that he had taken away.

That had to make this year’s Derby an acute disappointment for Velazquez. Riding race-time favorite Fierceness, Velazquez came home a disappointing 15th after sitting third at the mile pole in the 1 1/4-mile race.

“When I let (Fierceness) go, he just didn’t have it,” Velazquez said.

▪ Up: Churchill Downs management. The 150th Kentucky Derby was apparently a smash hit on multiple fronts.

NBC Sports announced Sunday that the 2024 Derby drew an average audience of 16.7 million viewers. According to NBC, it is the most-watched Kentucky Derby since the 1989 race averaged 18.5 million viewers.

Meanwhile, Churchill Downs announced that $210.7 million was wagered on the Derby, the first time in history that figure went above $200 million.

Given those metrics, the controversial decision made by Churchill Downs Inc. to extend the original two-year suspension of trainer Bob Baffert related to the Medina Spirit disqualification to a third Kentucky Derby does not appear to have harmed the popularity of the event.

▪ Down: Bob Baffert. Given the above figures, the two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer does not have much leverage in his interactions with Churchill Downs.

▪ Up: Japan. Though the two Japanese horses who contested the 150th Kentucky Derby did not produce the breakthrough Triple Crown victory that race fans in Japan yearn for, they came close.

The previously unbeaten Forever Young fought gamely but was squeezed in the middle in the three-horse battle for the race win. Meanwhile, the less highly regarded Japanese horse in the Derby, T O Password, finished a respectable fifth.

With the recent success of Japanese horses in other major international races, it seems just a matter of time before the Triple Crown win barrier is breached.

▪ Down: Martha Stewart. Given the honor of performing the “Rider’s Up” call for the historically significant 150th Derby, the lifestyle guru and businesswoman nearly committed the verbal faux pas of referring to “Kentucky” as “Connecticut.”

“Racing fans from around the world, the city of Louisville and the Commonwealth of Conn— Kentucky,” Stewart said in her remarks.

The subsequent roasting Stewart took on the social media platform X was, I thought, out of proportion to her “offense.”

Nevertheless, given the magnitude of Derby 150, I think those who were asking why Churchill Downs did not have a celebrity of national import with direct ties to the state of Kentucky perform the “Rider’s Up” call have a point.

Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan continuing on to the Preakness far from a sure thing

Brian Hernandez Jr., long an underappreciated jockey, rides an unforgettable Kentucky Derby

Owner of Kentucky Derby 2024 winner Mystik Dan dedicates victory to his late father

‘I believe in mojo.’ Lexington trainer earns rare double in thrilling Derby photo finish.

What happened to Fierceness, West Saratoga and all the other 2024 Kentucky Derby also-rans?

Media mogul Martha Stewart almost forgets home of Kentucky Derby ... it’s not Connecticut!

See celebrities on the red carpet at Kentucky Derby 150. Jimmy Fallon, Wyonna Judd & more