In an extremely game effort, Authentic held off Tiz the Law by 1 1/4-lengths to win the Kentucky Derby (G1) Saturday at Churchill Downs.

After the Eddie Woods training grad drew the outside post in the field of 18, trainer Bob Baffert was concerned that the speedy son of Into Mischief would need some luck to get to the lead, but worked on a plan with jockey John Velazquez.

“I told (Johnny) what I thought. He told me what he thought. And I said, I like your plan. It's a great plan. Just get away from them. Because we were worried about being on the outside, because he breaks out and all that. I told him, we talked about the horse. I told him what he doesn't like and what you can do and what he likes.”

Authentic didn't get the lead immediately, but was on top going into the first turn. Ny Traffic was his closest pursuer through the first six furlongs, then Tiz the Law took up the chase. The duo was side-by-side until a furlong to run, when Authentic began to pull away. He finished up the 1 1/4-miles in 2:00.61, the seventh-fastest Derby in history.

Authentic runs for the partnership of Spendthrift Farm, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stable, and Starlight Racing. 

Baffert was knocked to the ground by Authentic in the winner's circle.

“What happened is -- this horse is very skittish. He's a quirky horse, that's why he runs with ear plugs. The garland of roses, for some reason, they had a long red ribbon at the end of them. And it was hitting his hind leg and it was spooking him.

“Every time he would feel it, he spun around. He was like a bowling ball. He just bowled us all down. He got me. Actually, I was lucky I was -- the turf course is pretty soft here, so it wasn't too bad. I was probably more embarrassed than anything when I hit the ground.”

Prior to the Derby, Authentic won the Haskell Inv. (G1), San Felipe S. (G2) and Sham S. (G3). His overall record stands at 5-1-0 from six starts, with earnings of $2,871,200