20-1 longshot, Animal Kingdom, won the 2011 Kentucky Derby.
Animal Kingdom was running against not just the odds, but circumstances on Saturday. The horse’s regular jockey was injured, so John Velazquez was riding Animal Kingdom for the first time. Also, this was the first time Animal Kingdom had raced on dirt.
The result was stunning victory by almost 3 lengths, before a record crowd of over 160,000 fans at Churchill Downs.