Nyquist wins 2016 Kentucky Derby and now heads to the Preakness, the second leg of the Triple Crown....By Editor-in-Chief Kathy Wray Coleman of www.clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader

The heavily favored Nyquist, ridden by jockey Mario Guiterrez, won the 142nd run of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, May, 7.  Nyquist heads next to the Preakness, and then to Belmont Stakes, the second and third legs respectively of the coveted Triple Crown. Photo by Getty Images

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CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM-LOUISVILLE, Kentucky-Ridden by jockey Mario Guiterrez and heavily favored, Nyquist won the 142nd run of the Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., and before a crowd of some 167,00 people, the second largest ever behind last year's roughly 170,000 people.

He now heads to the Preakness on Saturday, May 21, the second leg of the coveted Triple Crown. 

Guiterrez thanked his wife for her encouragement and said that Nyquist is simply "amazing."

Trainer Doug O'Neil credited Nyquist, Guiterrez, owner Paul Reddam and the whole entourage as a first class act blessed with "such a special horse." 

The total purse was $2 million, with Nyquist, who came into the Derby with an 8-0 win-loss record and winnings of $3.3  million, got $1.24 million, second place finisher Exaggerator took home $400,000, and third place went to Gun Runner, who won $200,000 in monies

Fourth place and $100,000 went to Mohaymen, and Suddenbreakingnews, the fifth place winner out of 20 horses in the race, took the remainder of the purse at $60,000. 

Nyquist lived up to the hype of one of the most predicted winners ever, and paid $6.60, $4.80, $3.60 for a $2 bet.

The 3-1 odds, with a mediocre payout, reflected its popularity as a front-runner. He won by a length over Exaggerator.

Next is the fight for a Triple Crown, which American Pharoah took home last year, the 12th horse in history to win such prize, and the second since Affirmed in 1978.

Ridden by Victor Epinoza, who road California Chrome to a Derby win in 2014 and lost on Saturday riding the 19th placing Whitmore, American Pharoah won the 2015 Kentucky Derby by a length over Firing, with Dortmund, also a favorite, coming in third. 

The Kentucky Derby, held annually at Churchill Downs in Louisville, is always the first Saturday in May, with the Preakness in Baltimore, Maryland held two weeks later, and the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York three weeks after that, but never before June 5 or after June 11 for the Belmont Stakes. 

Winning all three legs, the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, will bring a Triple Crown.

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