LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Three times before for owner Ahmed Zayat, his Kentucky Derby dream ended in the long homestretch at Churchill Downs. On Saturday, he didn’t awaken until he got to the finish line. Second in three previous Derbies, all since 2009, Zayat finally got a chance to experience what he had dreamt about, as American Pharoah lived up to his favoritism by capturing the 141st Derby before a record crowd of 170,513 on a warm, sunny day beneath the storied twin spires. To get over the hump, Zayat teamed up with two Derby pros. Trainer Bob Baffert won the Derby for the fourth time, jockey Victor Espinoza the third. Baffert is now tied for the second-most Derby wins with “Derby Dick” Thompson and D. Wayne Lukas, trailing only Ben Jones, with six. Espinoza became the sixth jockey to win Derbies in consecutive years, having won it last year with California Chrome, and his three Derby wins trail only Eddie Arcaro, Bill Hartack, and Bill Shoemaker. But the one who got them all there was American Pharoah ($7.80), who raced three paths wide for much of the race before outbattling a bitterly stubborn Firing Line to prevail by a length in 2:03.02 for 1 1/4 miles on the fast main track. 2015 Kentucky Derby chart Baffert’s other runner, Dortmund, held on for third, two lengths behind Firing Line, which gave California-based runners a sweep of the first three spots. Frosted rallied for fourth – just missing third by neck – and was followed by Danzig Moon, Materiality, Keen Ice, Mubtaahij, Itsaknockout, Carpe Diem, Frammento, Bolo, Mr. Z, Ocho Ocho Ocho, Far Right, War Story, Tencendur, and Upstart, who was virtually eased as he crossed the wire. Eighteen went to the post. International Star was scratched on Saturday morning, joining El Kabeir and Stanford as scratches from the main body of the race after posts were drawn. Frammento was the lone also-eligible to get in. American Pharoah, last year’s champion 2-year-old male, has now won five times in six starts. He will move on to Pimlico for the May 16 Preakness Stakes in a bid to remain alive to become the first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. That is the longest Triple Crown drought since Sir Barton won the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes in 1919. Zayat had finished second with Bodemeister, Nehro, and Pioneerofthe Nile, the latter the sire of American Pharoah. Zayat bred American Pharoah. He said there was a moment in the homestretch when he “feared” the Derby would be taken from him and his family again, but the swirling “mix of emotions” went to elation as American Pharoah reached the wire. American Pharoah, wearing saddle cloth No. 18, had 14 rivals to his left and three to his right in the starting gate. On Friday, Baffert had sent Espinoza a text that said, “Just send him.” But in the paddock, Baffert said to Espinoza, “I don’t know. Do whatever you want.” American Pharoah left the gate cleanly but initially had a number of rivals to his inside, and for a moment a furlong into the race, it looked like American Pharoah might get forced quite wide entering the first turn. But by the time the runners reached the first turn, American Pharoah had made it to the No. 3 path, with Dortmund on the lead, Firing Line stalking, and American Pharoah next. They remained that way all the way down the backstretch and into the far turn. Midway on the turn, Firing Line poked his head in front of Dortmund. American Pharoah had to go, now. This would be the challenge for American Pharoah, who had won four consecutive starts in effortless fashion. He responded. American Pharoah loomed up three paths wide, and at the quarter pole, the three leaders had separated from their 15 rivals. Dortmund was the first to yield. He had set fractions of 23.24 seconds for the quarter, 47.34 seconds for a half-mile, and 1:11.29 for the first six furlongs, but he could not keep pace with 300 yards to go. Now it was down to two. Firing Line would not go away. Racing on his wrong lead, he stayed right with American Pharoah until about 100 yards remained, at which point American Pharoah gradually began to get the best of him. “He’s just an awesome horse,” Espinoza said. “It never gets old. I went into this race with so much confidence.” Baffert said he was “on pins and needles all week long,” owing to the following that American Pharoah kept gaining, a tidal wave of praise that at times seemed hyperbole. “There’s a certain aura about him. He’s caught everybody’s attention,” Baffert said. American Pharoah won twice in three starts at 2, and even though he missed the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile because of an injury, he was voted the division’s champion. The injury he sustained that week kept him from racing until March. He won both his preps – the Rebel Stakes and Arkansas Derby – at Oaklawn Park before heading here. The journey for Zayat, 52, began in his native Egypt, where his father was a physician. He made his fortune at a young age in the beverage business and now is heavily involved in racing, a passion for him and his son, Justin, his racing manager. Zayat’s journey on Saturday began a mile from the track. An Orthodox Jew, Zayat’s faith forbids him from taking motor transportation for 24 hours beginning at sundown Friday. So, his family moved on Friday afternoon from a downtown hotel to one nearer the track. That morning walk to the track from the hotel was the first big walk of the day. The second big walk came from the stable area, about an hour before the Derby, a celebrated pre-race walk with the Derby runners, one Zayat had made many times before. But after this Derby, he didn’t turn around and head home. Zayat finally got to take the walk he always wanted to take, across the track, to the winner’s circle used at this track for just one race, the Kentucky Derby.