The story of a thoroughbred owned in part by a southeast Arkansas farmer that won the Kentucky Derby carved out its own place in horse racing lore.
Mystik Dan hoped to add another chapter of victory to that story, but the Derby champion could never make the late surge that allowed him to contend for the previous two jewels of the Triple Crown and settled for eighth in the Belmont Stakes.
Mystik Dan is co-owned by Lance Gasaway, a Star City farmer who was an All-American football wide receiver at the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1985. Gasaway is part of the 4G Racing ownership, which includes his cousin Brent Gasaway and Brent’s wife Sharilyn, and Daniel Hamby III.
The horse won the Kentucky Derby in a photo finish and missed out on a second Triple Crown win in the Preakness Stakes, taking second behind Seize the Grey.
Coming out of the No. 3 post, Mystik Dan was the fourth favorite to win and went off at 6-1 odds. He fell back to the middle of the pack and raced alongside the inside rail, where he usually hangs around before making a charge.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
But traffic in front of Mystik Dan was still heavy, and there was no chance for him to contend for the win.
Mystik Dan pocketed $20,000 for the eighth-place finish. Dornoch, a 17-1 longshot co-owned by former baseball star Jayson Werth, held off Mindframe for the win. Sierra Leone, the 8-5 favorite, was third.
The Belmont race was run at Saratoga Race Course because the Belmont track is undergoing renovations. The race is normally a mile and a half, but was run at a mile and a quarter, the same distance as the Kentucky Derby.