Mystik Dan, regardless of who’s riding him, simply loves Churchill Downs. He won the 2024 Kentucky Derby there, won the Blame Stakes earlier this year, and on Saturday bravely burst through a minuscule gap at the three-sixteenths pole to win the Grade 2, $500,000 Lukas Classic. Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. rode the rail to Mystik Dan’s Derby score, came up the fence to win the Blame, but with Hernandez sidelined after suffering serious injuries in a spill last weekend, Francisco Arrieta got his chance on Mystik Dan in the Lukas Classic. Arrieta secured a spot on the rail just behind pacesetter Willy D’s and pace-tracking Prince of Power and attempted to emulate Hernandez, cleaving to the fence down the backstretch and around the far turn. But Willy D’s, beginning to tire, did not come off the rail at the quarter pole, Prince of Power lapped alongside him, forcing Arrieta to steer right and start looking for room. Outside the flagging leaders, Banishing made a three-wide bid past the five-sixteenths pole, Disarm following with a wider, stronger run that nearly had propelled him to the lead as Arrieta probed for a path. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. A gap between Prince of Power and Banishing opened after Mystik Dan, full of run, had straightened up for home, but as soon as Mystik Dan started going through, the opening narrowed. Tyler Gaffalione on Banishing tightened things up on Arrieta and only when Prince of Power had nearly cleared Willy D’s, drifting left, did Mystik Dan have sufficient clearance; even then, things got very tight, Mystik Dan brushing with Banishing. Finally extricated from traffic, Mystik Dan quickened beautifully and set off after Disarm, who had opened a lead. Mystik Dan, rallying inside Disarm, caught him past the sixteenth pole and pulled away to a three-quarters length victory. “He’s an amazing horse,” Arrieta said. “I was a little bit worried. The two horses in front were coming back to me, and I had nowhere to go.” Disarm, in a good effort finished almost four lengths in front of third-place Banishing, who was two lengths better than Dubai World Cup winner Hit Show. Prince of Power, Rattle N Roll, and Willy D’s brought up the rear. Mystik Dan, who has four wins from six Churchill starts and one victory in his 10 other races, clocked 1:49.25 for 1 1/8 miles (100 Beyer Speed Figure) and paid $5.14 as the favorite. “More than anything we wish Brian Hernandez was here,” said Kenny McPeek, who trains Mystik Dan for Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing, Daniel Hamby III, and Valley View Farm. “He’s such a big part of our team.” McPeek praised Mystik Dan’s turn of foot, but also his professional approach as a racehorse. “You bring him to the paddock, he stands there, he never turns a hair. He has this composure about him that makes our job very easy,” McPeek said. Bred in Kentucky by Gasaway, Hamby, and 4 G, Mystik Dan is by Goldencents out of Ma’am, by Colonel John. McPeek said he still needed to further confer with the colt’s owners, by Mystik Dan will likely makes his next start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. The race is at Del Mar: Were it at Churchill, they probably wouldn’t beat him. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.