Kenny McPeek sweeps at Churchill Downs: Trainer wins Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks 150

Kenny McPeek became the first trainer to win the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in the same year since 1952 thanks to a lesson he learned more than 20 years ago.

Mystik Dan’s electric photo finish in the 150th Run for the Roses paired with Friday's Oaks by Thorpedo Anna thrust McPeek into history. It might have never happened without what he took from using Repent and Take Charge Lady as workmates in 2002.

"They could have brought me to this same spot years back," said McPeek, who finished second in the 1995 Kentucky Derby with Tejano Run.

They paired well together and competed with each other while training, but McPeek believes he may have pushed his filly and colt too hard and worked Repent over the edge. Repent never made it to Churchill Downs. He was injured while running in the Illinois Derby a month before. Take Charge Lady finished second in the Oaks.

McPeek credited Thorpedo Anna's work with Mystik Dan for helping the colt win the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn because "she really fitted him, and there weren't any other horses in our barn that could do that."

That's what ultimately made McPeek step a bit out of character last week and boast that he wouldn't be surprised if he won both races. That's not a statement you make — never having won either the Oaks or Derby — unless you have extreme confidence in both horses.

McPeek is the first to accomplish the sweep since Ben Jones won the Oaks with Real Delight and the Derby with Hill Gail. Jones had moved to the general manager position with Calumet Farms and served as a co-trainer with his son Jimmy Jones on Real Delight.

The difference between McPeek's feat and what happened in the 1950s is he doesn't have his pick of elite horses. When McPeek won the Belmont Stakes with Sarava in 2002, he had the longest odds ever at 70-1 for the winner in that race. McPeek won the Preakness Stakes in 2020 with filly Swiss Skydiver.

"What I'm most proud of is, we didn't do it with Calumet Farm horses," McPeek said. "We've done it with what I call working-class horses."

He runs a working-class operation. McPeek isn't driven by a need to secure the biggest-named jockeys, which is why he stuck with using Brian Hernandez Jr. for both his horses this weekend. He's also not concerned with trying to pad his winning percentages.

He uses the first race for his horses more like a schooling process than a competition. They learn to "take dirt in their face," and moves aren't made so much to win immediately but to get better situated for the long term. Mystik Dan finished second to Agoo in his first race at 6 ½ furlongs at Keeneland.

"(Mystik Dan) could have won first time out if you wanted him to, but he wouldn't have learned anything," McPeek said. "So that kind of makes me maybe a little different."

Mystik Dan defied his post draw in winning. Since Ferdinand won in 1986 from Gate 1, only Real Quiet in 1998 from Post 3 had won after breaking from the first three posts.

It turns out that being on the inside was just the trip that McPeek wanted in order for Mystik Dan to join that short list. Hernandez even said he studied how Calvin Borel rode Super Saver and Mine That Bird to wins along the rail.

"I felt that confident in her," McPeek said. "With him, it's hard to feel more confident in (a) 20-horse field, I mean, so much can happen and everything's got to go right, and it went right."

Some might say Mystik Dan got a little help well before he took to the track Saturday.

With six-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert — who is tied with Ben Jones for most Derby wins — serving another year suspension at Churchill Downs, it secured an open door for the first-timers to have a chance at it.

It also helped that Amr Zedan, owner of Muth, opted against transferring his horse from Baffert to another trainer in order to compete in the Derby. Muth had won his last two races including the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby, where Mystik Dan ran third behind Derby entrant Just Steel.

The draws also created some luck for the field, as the favorites Fierceness and Sierra Leone were positioned in what, historically, have been difficult posts to win the Derby from.

No horse had ever won from the 17 post, which Fierceness was initially slated to start. He avoided having to fight history when he moved up to No. 16 after Encino scratched, but it still was not the ideal place for him. Sierra Leone’s knack for coming from behind nearly came to fruition despite having to break from the No. 2 post.

All of those moments created the opening for Mystik Dan to ride right through and secure McPeek's place in history with a historic finish at Kentucky Derby 150.

Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com, follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter atprofile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his columns.