Authentic upset favored Tiz The Law to win the 146th running of the Run for the Roses. | Photo: Coady Photography/Churchill Downs

There were some differences between this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and derbies of the past. But nothing—not a pandemic, not protesters—could stop the tradition of Thoroughbred racing’s best 3-year-olds battling it out down the stretch at Churchill Downs, where Authentic upset favored Tiz The Law to win the 146^th running of the Run for the Roses.

Authentic and 3/5 favorite Tiz The Law loaded into the two outside post positions in the small 15-horse field. Authentic, who went off at odds of 8-1, was expected to go to the immediate lead, but it was Storm The Court and NY Traffic who were in front at the first call. As the field entered the first turn, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez had gently urged Authentic to the lead as Tiz The Law settled just off the pace in fourth.

“We thought from the outside we might break a little slow, but by the first turn I knew we would want to be on the lead but I wanted to do it gradually,” Valezquez said of Authentic. “Once he got to the turn, he settled well. He let me do whatever I wanted to do