Derby winner is... Authentic

– Authentic held off heavily favoured Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law to capture the 146th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, giving trainer Bob Baffert a record-equalling sixth victory in the Run for the Roses.

Johnny Velazquez piloted Authentic to the victory at Churchill Downs, ensuring that a topsy-turvy Triple Crown year will not produce a 14th winner of US flat racing’s coveted treble when it concludes with the Preakness Stakes on 3 October.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, US racing’s most prestigious event was held not on the first Saturday in May, but on the first Saturday of September.

Instead of more than 100000 spectators jammed into the grandstands and infield, no more than 1 000 essential personnel, owners and trainers were on hand.

Despite the lack of fans, there was a heavy police presence outside the racetrack.

Louisville was the site of daylong protests demanding for justice for Breonna Taylor, a 26-yearold local paramedic killed in her own home after police mistakenly burst into the apartment in March.

There were tense standoffs with right-wing counter-demonstrators but no violence, despite heavily armed supporters on both sides. Protesters outside Churchill Downs chanted Taylor’s name as the race prepared to get underway, the Courier Journal newspaper reported. Overhead, a plane flew over the track trailing a banner: “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.”

On the track, front-runner Authentic set the early pace as expected under Velazquez, who claimed a third Kentucky Derby victory. – AFP