Who’s the Biggest Winner at 2024 Kentucky Derby? All About Mystik Dan’s Owners, Who Won $5 Million Race

The Kentucky Derby 2024 has been a rollercoaster, to say the least! The build-up to the race was incredible, with the Kentucky Oaks setting up the final stage yesterday. Horse racing fans from around the world have been speculating hard over the last weeks about which contender was most likely to win the 150th edition of the prestigious race.

However, while the top bets went for Fierceness or Sierra Leone, the underdog Mystic Dan pulled off a miracle and won last night’s race as the world stood in stupefied awe. So, who comprises Mystik Dan’s camp anyway?

A recent post on X (previously Twitter) by the official NBC Sports account, captioned “WOW“, shows how Mystik Dan, being excellently guided by the 2024 Kentucky Oaks winner Brian Hernandez Jr.’s experienced hands, maintained a lead with one-sixteenth of the racecourse still to go.

While both Sierra Leone and Forever Young pulled up closer, Mystik Dan managed to hold them off and finished the crossing line by the hair, literally! Now that the $5 million prize money waits to be claimed, let’s take a look at who all came together to make the three-year-old bask under the spotlight.

The winner of the 150th Kentucky Derby is owned by Lance Gasaway and Daniel Hamby III along with 4 G Racing LLC, and Valley View Farm. The Kentucky-bred horse is trained by Kenny McPeek, the same person who came to the forefront only yesterday thanks to Thorpedo Anna’s victory at the 150th Kentucky Oaks.

If that wasn’t all, Brian Hernandez was also the jockey who won the May 3 race at the CDI racecourse on the back of Thorpedo Anna before claiming the first-place finish at the Race for the Roses last night. After the race, McPeek couldn’t stop gushing about Hernandez’s capabilities as a jockey. “Brian is one of the most underrated jockeys, but not anymore, right?” bellowed an ecstatic Kenny after Mystik Dan’s victory.

The backend team that kept the 2024 Kentucky Derby winner in shape

Mystik Dan was reared by Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby & 4 G Racing LLC., who has kept a close eye on the horse’s career, which has yielded a total earning of $641,360 to date. From the $5 million prize pool, $3.1 million will be awarded to the horse for his exceptional tenacity during the race.

The 2024 edition of the prestigious race saw a horse winning by a nose for the first time in several years and the 156,710 attendees at the CDI racecourse kept cheering loudly for the three finishers before the official winner was declared, which Hernandez referred to as “The longest few minutes of my life.”

Lance Gasaway, a rice and corn farmer from Arkansas, and his cousin Brent from 4 G Racing are still in shock about the whole affair. “It’s an honor that we got in there“, is what they had to say talking about Mystik Dan’s low-budget operation. “There are only 20 horses; for us to have a horse that we bred ourselves, to make it to the Kentucky Derby that’s just a big accomplishment“, confessed Gasaway.

Now, with one of the highest honors in the horse racing circuit under his belt, it’s to be seen what new direction life takes Hernandez and Mystik Dan for their next voyage.