The Apollo Curse is no more after pre-race favorite Justify justified its hype to win Saturday's 144th Kentucky Derby, bursting past the competition on the far turn to make history. Running on a sloppy track after record rainfall struck Churchill Downs, the undefeated speedster pulled away from the field at the 3/4-mile mark and extended to win the first leg of the American Triple Crown and end the Apollo Curse in the process. Until his victory, not a single horse without a race as a 2-year-old had won the annual Run for the Roses since Apollo did it back in 1882.

"When he got away clean, I thought we had a chance," Justify trainer Bob Baffert said on the NBC broadcast. "He was doing it easy. Him and (2015 winner) American Pharoah, they're just cut from a different (cloth). I rank him up there with my top ones. This track really had me worried."

Justify ran side by side with Promises Fulfilled, a 49-1 long shot, through the first half of the race but pulled into the lead and then extended down the back stretch to give Baffert, a Hall of Famer, his fifth win in the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.

Good Magic finished second and Audible, the Florida Derby champion who held the enviable Post 5, took third.

Now it's onto the second leg of the Triple Crown in two weeks where Baffert and his winning horse will look to win the Preakness.Three years ago, Baffert trained American Pharoah to the first sweep of the Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 37 years and just the 12th ever.

The Kentucky Derby record for most wins by a trainer is within Baffert's grasp, too, after the 65-year-old snapped a tie for second. He now trails only Ben Jones with six.

While Justify was up against history, the favorite won the Run for the Roses for the sixth year in a row, the longest such run since the 1970s. It was also the second Derby win for jockey Mike Smith, who at 52 is the second-oldest winning jockey. An announced crowd of 157,813 took in the rainiest Derby on record to see Justify win.

Kentucky Derby final results

Position Horse (odds) 1. Justify (5-2) 2. Good Magic (9-1) 3. Audible (7-1) 4. Instilled Regard (85-1) 5. My Boy Jack (6-1) 6. Bravazo (66-1) 7. Hofburg (27-1) 8. Lone Sailor (24-1) 9. Vino Rosso (14-1) 10. Solomini (62-1) 11. Firenze Fire (59-1) 12. Bolt D'oro (8-1) 13. Flameaway (37-1) 14. Enticed (50-1) 15. Promises Fulfilled (49-1) 16. Free Drop Billy (45-1) 17. Noble Indy (59-1) 18. Combatant (70-1) 19. Magnum Moon (13-1) 20. Mendelssohn (6-1)

If you missed any of the action from the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports on Saturday at Churchill Downs, relive all the pageantry and drama with our live blog recap. If you can't see the blog, please click here.</s>Certainly not the weather we wanted, nor the records we wanted to break. But records were SMASHED yesterday after 3.15'' of rain fell. It was the wettest Kentucky Derby since 1918 and we broke the daily record too.

We finally dried up early this morning (a bit late Mother Nature) but we are not completely done with the wet weather for this weekend. We are caught in the middle of two systems. The one that impacted us yesterday is to our SE and moving out. Our system for today is a cold front/low combo to our NW. It will drop SE later today, renewing our storm chance.





The next few hours will be dry. But as the front drops SE, a few pop up showers and storms will fire off starting around 3 pm.



They become more likely and numerous after 5 pm.

These will be scattered "pulse-like" storms. Similar to those in the summer.



Showers and storms will continue until after the sun sets.

And begin to taper off after 12 am.



Finally, we will be dry after 2-3 am. And Monday will be a drier cooler day.



Severe threat?

We will have plenty of instability as seen below with CAPE, (convective available potential energy) which is a measurement of instability. This is because of warm temps in the upper 70s and low 80s and dew points in the upper 50s and low 60s, which is not a ton of moisture, but enough. We are lacking wind energy though. Ingredients are not overly impressive, but we could still see a few stronger storms with gusty winds (up to 40 mph), small hail, plenty of lightning and downpours.



Katie McGraw's Facebook Page</s>(CNN) — Race favorite Justify, ridden by Mike Smith, won the 144th Kentucky Derby on a sloppy track at Louisville’s Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Justify is trained by Bob Baffert, who now has five Derby wins.

Good Magic finished second, just ahead of Audible.

The race was the wettest in the event’s history as more than 2.8 inches of rain fell Saturday.

Justify broke from the No. 7 post well, ran to the front with Promises Fulfilled and pulled away just as the horses passed the 3/4 mile marker in the 1-1/4 mile race.

The next race in the Triple Crown series is May 19 — the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York, is June 9 at Belmont Park.</s>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Race favorite Justify, ridden by Mike Smith, finished first in the 144th Kentucky Derby at Louisville’s Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Justify is trained by Bob Baffert, who has four previous Derby wins.

The race was the wettest in the event’s history as more than 2.8 inches of rain fell Saturday.

The next race in the Triple Crown series is May 19 — the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York, is June 9 at Belmont Park.</s>After a day of steady rain on Churchill Downs, it was Justify who managed to cross the finish line first in the mud.

Justify brought home Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith a second Derby victory, on top of his and trainer Bob Baffert's $2 million prize. Bafftert also seals his fifth Derby win.

Despite the unpredictable conditions, history predicted the result — it's sixth consecutive Derby that a favorite has won.

Almost 3 inches of rain made for sloppy conditions at the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby.

Entering the race, Justify was the favorite, with 5-2 odds, followed by Mendelssohn, 6-1, and My Boy Jack at 6-1.

Mendelssohn, aiming to claim the first Derby win for a Europe-hailing horse, finished last, beaten by 73¼ lengths.

Superstitious fans had been dreading the Apollo Curse. According to Sports Illustrated, no horse has won the race without starting as a 2-year-old since 1882 — when Apollo won the Kentucky Derby by defeating 4-5 favorite Runnymede.

Justify, with the best odds, and Magnum Moon, closing with 13-1, had been the only candidates in the field eligible to break the 136-year-old curse.</s>LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Latest on Saturday’s 144th running of the Kentucky Derby (all times local):

A steady stream of people are heading for the exits at Churchill Downs, about two hours before the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby.

The rain has continued unabated, pouring harder as the day wore on. Swaths of the grandstand’s uncovered seats that sell for hundreds each are empty, as Derby goers have opted instead to cram under awnings and overhangs to try to stay out of the rain.

Otis Miller joined the stream of those who had enough and decided to leave. He and his friend, William Smith, were visiting from Cincinnati for their first Derby in the infield, where there is little shelter. Both were sopping wet by the time they threw in the towel.

Miller gestured to his bright yellow suit, soaked under a flimsy poncho.

“I tried to bring the sun out on a rainy day with my yellow suit,” he said, “but Mother Nature won that battle.”

The mud is flying at rainy Churchill Downs, leaving jockeys’ silks and faces coated in dirt and their horses covered in filth.

Riders in races before the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby are wearing multiple pairs of goggles during races, so they can pull a clean pair down whenever their current set gets dirty.

Jockey Brian Hernandez says the track surface is in good condition despite being listed as sloppy. He just won the $300,000 Pat Day Mile aboard 39-1 shot Funny Duck.

The National Weather Service earlier Saturday issued a flash flood warning for Louisville until 6:30 p.m., about 15 minutes before the Kentucky Derby is to be run.

A human traffic jam has formed in the underground tunnels leading to and from the infield, as drenched Derby goers seek shelter from the unrelenting rain.

Lacy Nelson glanced behind her as she tried to navigate the nearly impassible tunnel, and saw thousands more people pressing in behind her.

“Oh my god, we’re like cattle,” she exclaimed. “Look at everybody.”

Nelson and her friend, Mary Rolfe, traveled from Minnesota to their first Derby, and said the rain is such a bummer they said they would have left if they hadn’t spent $80 on their infield tickets. The daylong downpour has created ankle-deep puddles in the infield, where there is little shelter. Soggy spectators crowded under trees and awnings. Chairs sank into the mud.

“It’s awful,” said Rolfe. “I want to come back to the Derby when it’s nice so I can really enjoy it.”

Phones binged with an emergency flash flood warning and many crammed into the tunnels around them groaned.

Forecasters predict the rain will stretch through the afternoon and into the evening. Some fretted that the rain will delay the race.

Sarah Applewhite came from New Orleans with a group of friends, and said the rain hasn’t ruined the day for them.

“It’s like a music festival, with horses,” she said. “I just hope it doesn’t get ruined.”

The National Weather Service has issued a flash flood warning for Louisville until 6:30 p.m., about 15 minutes before the Kentucky Derby is to be run.

Radar is showing torrential rain across the area, including Churchill Downs.

The weather service says up to 2 inches has already fallen and an additional 1 to 2 inches is possible.

It had been sunny and warm in Louisville this week leading up to Saturday with temps in the 80s.

Some wore hats with feathers that stretch two feet into the air. Some decorated theirs with birds and horns and horses. Despite the rain, the Kentucky Derby’s famous hats were once again on display Saturday.

Erica Hetfeld, from Oregon, made her own that featured a beer bottle suspended in the air, pouring a stream of yellow flowers into a pint glass. It was designed in homage to a Bud Light commercial, the idea for which was conceived, she said, “after drinking too many Bud Lights while watching the Super Bowl.” She estimated it weighs 10 pounds.

Lisa Vaughn donned a giant purple top hat dedicated to her favorite singer with Prince’s iconic symbol glued to the front. Passers-by gave her a thumb’s up, or sang Purple Rain.

Others wore flamingos and giant flowers or skirted Churchill Downs’ ban on umbrellas by attaching them to their heads like hats. Some women wrapped their expensive creations in plastic bags to protect them from the weather.

Several years ago, Joe Conforto was pictured in an online blog that deemed his hat among the 10 worst at the races. The writer described Conforto’s headwear as resembling a dead beaver. Conforto decided, he said, “it’s time to step it up” and he’s been working in the years since to redeem himself.

He arrived for his seventh Kentucky Derby on Saturday with a stuffed horse handmade by his wife on his head, with a matching feather bowtie.

The California couple squeezed into the crush of Derby goers crowding the end of the red carpet, engaging in the day’s other favorite past-time: celebrity spotting. Hundreds around them craned their necks to try to glimpse someone famous.

“I’d rather meet a race horse,” he said. “They’re the greatest athletes in the world.”

The track surface at Churchill Downs has been downgraded to sloppy about four hours before the Kentucky Derby is run.

Showers have been falling since mid-day in Louisville. The surface was listed as fast to begin the racing card and then went to muddy and is now sloppy.

Fans are seeking shelter under any overhang they can find, while donning plastic ponchos over their outfits and hats.

Celebrities are making their annual walk down the red carpet at the Kentucky Derby.

“Friday Night Lights” star Taylor Kitsch is attending his first Derby, but he’s no stranger to picking a good horse. He says he won’t settle on a choice until he sees the horses just before the race.

“I love to see them first, see what they’re dealing with, see the energy of the horses right before they get in there, and then I’ll know,” said Kitsch, who has starred in HBO’s “True Detective” and the films “Battleship” and “Lone Survivor.”

Former Dallas Cowboys star Jason Witten turned ESPN football analyst on Monday Night Football made his way to Churchill Downs just days after announcing his retirement from football. Witten says he’s “still on the high right now of going through so many emotions.”

Figure skater Johnny Weir made his usual splash on the red carpet with his choice of head-wear. This year it was three crowns put together to symbolize the Triple Crown.

His horse is Mendelssohn, “simply because I love classical music, classical music is so important to my sport and my life.”

“Blackish” actor Anthony Anderson wore a canary yellow suit and is picking Audible to win the Derby.

Other stars appearing on the red carpet included Kid Rock, Joey Fatone of NSYNC and country star Travis Tritt, attending his 23rd Derby.

The dirt track at Churchill Downs has gone from being fast to listed as muddy.

The surface has been sealed or packed down, allowing water to run off and reduce the amount of precipitation being absorbed. Wet tracks are sealed to provide a safe and even racing surface.

Of the 20 Kentucky Derby runners in Saturday’s race, 12 have never raced on a wet surface.

Bettors might want to consider Flameaway, currently a 50-1 shot that is 2-for-2 on wet tracks.

Justify, the 7-2 favorite, is 1-for-1 on wet tracks, as is Lone Sailor, My Boy Jack and Enticed.

Firenze Fire has one win in two starts under such conditions. Free Drop Billy and Combatant have both finished second in their only starts on wet tracks.

Kentucky Derby day got off to a drizzly start for the second year in a row, with spitting rain and the forecast predicting downpours to last all day.

Women traded heels for galoshes and wore ponchos over their dresses. Some in the infield constructed elaborate tents out of tarps to try to stay dry and avoid the forming mud puddles. The weather for some was a disappointing twist after forecasters had for a week been promising perfect weather on Derby Day. It had been sunny and warm leading up to Saturday with temps in the 80s.

Amanda Phillips and Sarah Hoffman bought their mother infield tickets for Christmas, and the trio traveled from Orlando. They’d had their outfits meticulously planned for their first Derby, but eyed the sky Saturday morning, scrapped their dresses and made a last minute run to the store for ponchos and rain boots.

“We don’t mind a little rain, we adapted,” Phillips said, as they stood under an overhang at a wagering window to try to stay out of the rain. “Our hair looked great like two hours ago.”

Steve Asmussen has earned his 8,000th career victory on Kentucky Derby day.

The 52-year-old trainer saddled Lookin At Lee to a 2 1/4-length win in the third race at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Asmussen is second to the late Dale Baird in career wins among trainers. Baird notched 9,445 over 46 years.

A year ago, Lookin At Lee finished second in the Derby to Always Dreaming by 2 3/4 lengths.

Asmussen has a chance to win his first Derby later Saturday with 76-1 shot Combatant.

He could add to his total with 16 scheduled starters on the day, six at Churchill and 10 at Lone Star Park in Texas.

Bob Baffert is seeking a fifth victory in the Kentucky Derby and he’s got the favorite, too.

Justify is the early 7-2 favorite for Saturday’s 144th Run for the Roses that features a full field of 20 colts. Baffert trains Justify, who has just three starts, and longshot Solomini.

Justify, along with undefeated Magnum Moon, didn’t race as 2-year-olds. They’ll be trying to disprove an old jinx: No horse since Apollo in 1882 has won without racing as a juvenile.

Todd Pletcher will saddle four horses: Audible, the co-third choice at 6-1, along with longshots Magnum Moon, Vino Rosso and Noble Indy.

History would be written if Ireland-based Mendelssohn pulls off a victory. No European colt has ever won the Derby.

The forecast calls for a chance of rain at various times Saturday. Post time is 6:46 p.m. ET.</s>Jusitfy won the 2018 Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

Justify is trained by Bob Baffert and was ridden by Mike Smith. He finished in 2:04.02 in what was the wettest Kentucky Derby in the history of the race.

Bob Baffert got his fifth victory in the Kentucky Derby. Justify, which remained the 3-1 betting pick less than an hour before the 144th Derby despite the rain throughout the day and the track downgraded to sloppy, was the runaway choice on social media with 14,700 mentions, according to Talkwalker.

Justify didn't race as a 2-year-old. They disproved an old jinx: No horse since Apollo in 1882 has won without racing as a juvenile.

Kentucky Derby 2018 will be remembered for at least one reason – it was the wettest race day ever recorded.

The National Weather Service recorded 2.61 inches of rain at Louisville International Airport on Saturday, as of 4:30 p.m. ET. That eclipsed the previous record of 2.31 inches, recorded on May 11, 1918.</s>Mike Smith rides Justify to victory during the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Louisville, Ky. Associated Press/Kiichiro Sato

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Justify splashed through the slop to win the Kentucky Derby by 2½ lengths on Saturday, becoming the first colt in 136 years to wear the roses after not racing as a 2-year-old.

The colt that began his racing career in February improved to 4-0 and gave Bob Baffert his fifth Derby victory. That snapped a tie and left the 65-year-old trainer trailing only Ben Jones with six.

Mike Smith earned his second Derby victory. The 52-year-old jockey crossed the finish line at Churchill Downs with only a few specks of mud on his white and green silks in the rainiest Derby in the race's 144-year history.

Justify, the 5-2 favorite in the field of 20, ran 1¼ miles in 2:04.20.

Good Magic finished second and Audible was another head back in third.</s>LOUISVILLE — The Kentucky Derby is always the hardest race of the year to handicap because there are factors that come into play on Derby Day that simply aren’t present any other time these young horses will step onto the track.

From seeing and hearing a well-lubricated crowd of more than 100,000 humans to the inherent chaos of navigating a race with 19 other horses, there is nothing normal about the experience. Some are impervious to the sensory stress and run their race. But many horses, even some who went on to become champions, encounter enough difficulty to run poorly that day — or, in the case of a horse last year named Thunder Snow — refuse to run at all.

There’s really no way to know.

“The best horse doesn’t always win the Derby,” Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said. “Matter of fact, it seldom does.”

From a talent perspective, Smith may very well be on the best horse this year in Justify, a physical specimen whose athleticism stands out even among other terrific-looking horses.

More: Can Derby favorite justify the hype?

More: Mike Smith is the jockey everyone wants in big races

More: More Derby picks from the experts

Moreover, Justify is 3-for-3 in his career, was visually impressive in winning the Santa Anita Derby, has looked comfortable galloping over the Churchill Downs track and is trained by four-time Derby winner Bob Baffert. Justify is the deserving favorite, and he may well prove Saturday evening that he’s a potential superstar who can sweep the Triple Crown.

But from a handicapping perspective, Justify is far from bulletproof. This is a horse that made his racetrack debut a mere 11 weeks ago, and as authoritative as Justify’s three wins have been, they’ve come against small fields in California where he was allowed to go to the front unchallenged and cruise along at a comfortable pace. That won’t happen on Saturday in a rough-and-tumble Derby, and everything about the history of the race tells me such an inexperienced animal is a terrible bet at 5/2 or 3/1, even if he may turn out eventually to be a great horse.

Many bettors who come to the same conclusion on Justify will likely filter toward Mendelssohn, the regally-bred European who won the UAE Derby by 18 1/2 lengths, Florida Derby winner Audible or Arkansas Derby winner Magnum Moon, who is 4-for-4 in his career.

But no horse in the field has a better combination of class, experience and running style than Good Magic, who comes into the 144th Kentucky Derby as one of the least-respected 2-year-old champions in recent memory.

Good Magic, who hails from the red-hot barn of New York-based trainer Chad Brown, was somehow made 12-1 on the morning line even though he’s coming off an impressive performance in the Blue Grass Stakes a month ago at Keeneland and won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November, exploding from just off the pace to win by 4 1/2 lengths.

In most years, a horse that won those two races would be among the favorites. Instead, Good Magic has been largely overlooked. Why?

It may trace back to the early spring, when Brown decided to give Good Magic a vacation after the Breeders’ Cup, hoping to have a fresh horse for the classics. But when he returned to the races off a four-month layoff, he was an uninspiring third in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, showing little finishing kick.

Though Good Magic redeemed himself in the Blue Grass, it didn’t attract one of the stronger fields among the prep races. So the question handicappers must consider is this: Did Good Magic simply need the race in the Fountain of Youth to set him on an upward trajectory that will culminate with the best race of his career in the Kentucky Derby, or did he simply look good against bad horses at Keeneland?

After seeing him in person at Churchill, where his gallops have been strong but full of controlled energy, I’m going to guess it’s the former.

“He couldn’t be doing any better,” Brown said.

Part of the problem with the Derby is that it’s easy to overthink things as a handicapper. But with Good Magic, you get a horse that fits the profile of many Derby winners: He won a big race at 2, improved from his first to his second start at 3, will sit just off the lead where he can pounce coming around the far turn and comes from a trainer who tasted his first Triple Crown success in last year’s Preakness with Cloud Computing.

Though I’ll include Justify, Mendelssohn and Audible in trifectas and superfectas, the final order of finish will be:

1. Good Magic (No. 6): Brown, who is already a star at age 39, gets his first Derby win.

2. Hofburg (No. 9): The Juddmonte Farms homebred finished a good second in the Florida Derby, which was just his third career start. Trainer Bill Mott is a master, and he wouldn’t throw such an inexperienced horse in the Derby unless he felt like he had a good shot.

3. Enticed (No. 12): As a 2-year-old, he won the Kentucky Jockey Club stakes at Churchill Downs, so he likes the track. Ran well in the New York preps.

4. My Boy Jack (No. 10): You always want to include at least one closer on your ticket to get a piece of it if the early pace is suicidal. He may not be good enough to win, but he’ll be running fast late.</s>Justify won the 144th Kentucky Derby Saturday, breaking a 1882 curse against thoroughbreds that did not race at age 2.

The chestnut colt with a white blaze on his face was the favorite with 3-1 odds in the field of 20 horses. Good Magic came in second, with Audible pulling in a close third.

Justify, who came into Louisville's Churchill Downs undefeated, is the first horse that didn't race as a 2-year-old to win "The Run for the Roses" since Apollo won in 1882. The Kentucky Derby is a Grade 1 stakes race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds.

He is also the fifth thoroughbred trained by Bob Baffert to win the Kentucky Derby. Baffert saddled Triple Crown winner American Pharoah in 2015 as well as Silver Charm in 1997, Real Quiet in 1998, and War Emblem in 2002.

Saturday's race was the first away from California's Santa Anita Park for Justify. He earned his spot in the Kentucky Derby by beating out Bolt d'Oro in the Santa Anita Derby last month.
Pre-race favorite Justify wins the Kentucky Derby, becoming the first horse since 1882 to win the race while unraced as a two-year-old. The race was run under the wettest conditions in its history; by post time, more than 2.8 inches (7.1 cm) of rain had fallen on race day, breaking a record that had lasted since 1918.