Mystik Dan (USA)
March 4, 2021 – Living
Goldencents (USA) x Ma’am (USA), by Colonel John (USA)
Family 4-r
March 4, 2021 – Living
Goldencents (USA) x Ma’am (USA), by Colonel John (USA)
Family 4-r
Clearly a horse for a course, Mystik Dan took four of his five career victories at Churchill Downs. The most important, of course, was the 2024 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1), which he burst into contention along the rail and lasted to win in a thrilling blanket finish over Sierra Leone (the eventual American champion 3-year-old male) and Japanese challenger Forever Young (later a Grade/Group 1 winner in Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States). He failed to win again as a 3-year-old but was a multiple graded stakes winner at 4 before being retired to stud.
Race record
16 starts, 5 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, US$4,819,160
2024:
2025:
Assessments
Rated at 120 pounds on the 2024 Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, 8 pounds below overall co-highweights City of Troy (the European Horse of the Year) and Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) winner Laurel River, the highest-rated runner on dirt.
As an individual
A bay horse, Mystik Dan was willing and game on the race track. He handled both fast and sloppy tracks well. He was scratched from the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (USA-G1) on race day after a possible problem was detected in his left fore ankle.
As a stallion
Mystik Dan is slated to begin his stallion career at Airdrie Farm in 2025.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Mystik Dan was bred by Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby III, and 4G Racing. He raced for his breeders in partnership with Valley View Farm. He was trained by Kenny McPeek and was ridden to his Kentucky Derby triumph by Brian Hernandez Jr. It was intended for him to have made his last start in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but after he was a veterinarian’s scratch on race day, he was retired to enter stud in Kentucky at Airdrie Farm.
Pedigree notes
Mystik Dan is outcrossed through five generations. He is the first foal of the winner Ma’am, a daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Colonel John (by Tiznow). A half sister to four-time Greek divisional highweight Revamp (by Tapizar), Ma’am is the only producing daughter out of Lady Siphonica (by multiple Grade/Group 1 winner Siphon), a full sister to 2001 Hollywood Futurity (USA-G1) winner Siphonic and a half sister to listed stakes winner Mountain Girl (by Mountain Cat). Lady Siphonica is also a half sister to Rose of Summer (by El Prado), dam of 2008 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (USA-G1) winner Laragh (by Tapit), 2014 Fort Lauderdale Stakes (USA-G2) winner Summer Front (by War Front), and hurdle stakes winner Bluegrass Summer (by Purge). In addition, Lady Siphonica is a half sister to Juliette Ava (by Medaglia d’Oro), second dam of Grade 3 winner No More Time.
Lady Siphonica and her siblings were produced from stakes-placed Cherokee Crossing (by 1988 Flamingo Stakes, USA-G1, winner Cherokee Colony, by Pleasant Colony), a half sister to multiple Grade 2 winner Dixie Dot Com (by Dixie Brass). Cherokee Crossing is also a half sister to Beautiful Lil (by Aptitude), second dam of 2021 Shoemaker Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner Smooth Like Strait.
Cherokee Crossing, in turn, is out of unraced Sky Meadows (by Conquistador Cielo), a half sister to stakes winner Kiltartan Cross. The next dam in Mystik Dan’s tail-female line is the Riva Ridge mare Pride’s Crossing, a half sister to 1975 Gallorette Handicap (USA-G3) winner Summertime Promise (by Nijinsky II; second dam of multiple G2 winner and important sire Carson City). The sisters’ dam, Prides Promise, is by Crozier out of the important broodmare Hillbrook.
Books and media
Footage of Mystik Dan’s spine-tingling Kentucky Derby win can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMS-WUaYDfM.
Fun facts
Last updated: November 8, 2025
Race record
16 starts, 5 wins, 3 seconds, 2 thirds, US$4,819,160
2024:
- Won Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (USA-G1, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Southwest Stakes (USA-G3, 8.5FD, Oaklawn Park)
- 2nd Preakness Stakes (USA-G1, 9.5FD, Pimlico)
- 3rd Arkansas Derby (USA-G1, 9FD, Oaklawn Park)
2025:
- Won Lukas Classic Stakes (USA-G2, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Blame Stakes (USA-G3, 9FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Lake Ouchita Stakes (USA, 8.5FD, Oaklawn Park)
Assessments
Rated at 120 pounds on the 2024 Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, 8 pounds below overall co-highweights City of Troy (the European Horse of the Year) and Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) winner Laurel River, the highest-rated runner on dirt.
As an individual
A bay horse, Mystik Dan was willing and game on the race track. He handled both fast and sloppy tracks well. He was scratched from the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (USA-G1) on race day after a possible problem was detected in his left fore ankle.
As a stallion
Mystik Dan is slated to begin his stallion career at Airdrie Farm in 2025.
Connections
Foaled in Kentucky, Mystik Dan was bred by Lance Gasaway, Daniel Hamby III, and 4G Racing. He raced for his breeders in partnership with Valley View Farm. He was trained by Kenny McPeek and was ridden to his Kentucky Derby triumph by Brian Hernandez Jr. It was intended for him to have made his last start in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but after he was a veterinarian’s scratch on race day, he was retired to enter stud in Kentucky at Airdrie Farm.
Pedigree notes
Mystik Dan is outcrossed through five generations. He is the first foal of the winner Ma’am, a daughter of multiple Grade 1 winner Colonel John (by Tiznow). A half sister to four-time Greek divisional highweight Revamp (by Tapizar), Ma’am is the only producing daughter out of Lady Siphonica (by multiple Grade/Group 1 winner Siphon), a full sister to 2001 Hollywood Futurity (USA-G1) winner Siphonic and a half sister to listed stakes winner Mountain Girl (by Mountain Cat). Lady Siphonica is also a half sister to Rose of Summer (by El Prado), dam of 2008 Hollywood Starlet Stakes (USA-G1) winner Laragh (by Tapit), 2014 Fort Lauderdale Stakes (USA-G2) winner Summer Front (by War Front), and hurdle stakes winner Bluegrass Summer (by Purge). In addition, Lady Siphonica is a half sister to Juliette Ava (by Medaglia d’Oro), second dam of Grade 3 winner No More Time.
Lady Siphonica and her siblings were produced from stakes-placed Cherokee Crossing (by 1988 Flamingo Stakes, USA-G1, winner Cherokee Colony, by Pleasant Colony), a half sister to multiple Grade 2 winner Dixie Dot Com (by Dixie Brass). Cherokee Crossing is also a half sister to Beautiful Lil (by Aptitude), second dam of 2021 Shoemaker Mile Stakes (USA-G1) winner Smooth Like Strait.
Cherokee Crossing, in turn, is out of unraced Sky Meadows (by Conquistador Cielo), a half sister to stakes winner Kiltartan Cross. The next dam in Mystik Dan’s tail-female line is the Riva Ridge mare Pride’s Crossing, a half sister to 1975 Gallorette Handicap (USA-G3) winner Summertime Promise (by Nijinsky II; second dam of multiple G2 winner and important sire Carson City). The sisters’ dam, Prides Promise, is by Crozier out of the important broodmare Hillbrook.
Books and media
Footage of Mystik Dan’s spine-tingling Kentucky Derby win can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMS-WUaYDfM.
Fun facts
- Five members of the Gasaway family are among Mystik Dan’s breeders and owners. Aside from Lance Gasaway, they include his cousin Brent Gasaway, Brent’s wife Sharilyn, and Brent’s adult children, Logan and Lauren, who together operate as 4G Racing.
- Kenny McPeek played a large role in Mystik Dan’s coming into existence, as he helped the Gasaways and Daniel Hamby acquire the colt’s dam, Ma’am, trained her for most of her racing career, and suggested that they breed her to Goldencents after her retirement. Fittingly, Mystik Dan was foaled at McPeek’s farm near Lexington.
- Mystik Dan’s Kentucky Derby win came on the one-year anniversary of the death of Lance Gasaway’s father, Clint Gasaway, who introduced his son to the love of Thoroughbred horses and racing by going to the races with him at Oaklawn Park, about two hours from the family’s home base in Gould, Arkansas. Before leaving to attend the Derby, Lance Gasaway planted a Kentucky Derby flag on his father’s grave.
- 2024 American Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna and Mystik Dan completed a rare double for trainer Kenny McPeek and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. in 2025 by winning the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby, respectively, on consecutive days. McPeek was the first trainer to win the Oaks and the Derby in the same year since Ben Jones won with Real Delight (Oaks) and Hill Gail (Derby) in 1952. Hernandez was the first jockey to ride both winners in the same year since 2009, when Calvin Borel won with Rachel Alexandra (Oaks) and Mine That Bird (Derby).
- While training over the winter of 2024-25, Mystik Dan and Thorpedo Anna routinely worked together because nothing else in Kenny McPeek’s barn could keep up with them.
- Mystik Dan’s farewell to racing took place on November 8, 2025, when he was paraded in the paddock at Churchill Downs.
Last updated: November 8, 2025