Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan has Arkansas ties

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (KNWA/KFTA) — Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby on Saturday by a nose, but did you know the winner’s team has ties to the Natural State?

The horse came into the race with an 18-1 shot and edged out Sierra Leone in a photo finish.

Trainer Kenny McPeek was born in Fort Chaffee in 1962, but grew up in Lexington, Ky. Mystik Dan’s win was McPeek’s first Kentucky Derby win as a trainer, McPeek’s third win in the Triple Crown.

McPeek also picked up a win on Friday as the trainer for Thorpedo Anna in the Kentucky Oaks . He became the first trainer since 1952 to sweep the two events.

Mystik Dan is also co-owned by Arkansas natives. Lance Gasaway and his cousin Brent are from the Natural State as Lance was a football player at the University of Arkansas at Monticello back in the 1980s.

He was an NAIA Division I All-American honorable-mention in 1985, and a two-time first-team All- Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference selection in 1984 and 1985, according to the university’s football records .

Lance grew up in Gould, Arkansas, a town of around 800 people and would go to horse races at Oaklawn in Hot Springs with his father and brother, according to Louisville Courier Journal .

KAIT-TV said Brent and Lance co-own the horse with 4 G Racing, Valley View Farm and Daniel Hamby III.

Hamby is also an Arkansas native, according to the Associated Press . All three bred Mystik Dan.

The Louisville Courier Journal said all three of Mystik Dan’s races prior to the Kentucky Derby were on the track at Oaklawn: the Smarty Jones Stakes, the Southwest Stakes and the Arkansas Derby. Mystik Dan placed fifth, first and third in those races, respectively.

Mystik Dan will look to defend its run to the Triple Crown at the Preakness Stakes on May 18 .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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