The NBC coverage said he bet 2.4 million! 
I’ve been wondering this too, but I can’t find anything one the web.
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In the brief clip that they showed of Medina Spirit at his yearling sale he sure looked like a weedy little thing. No wonder he went for only $1000. Not exactly bred to the purple either.
I love that an ugly duckling turned into a swan.
Soup looked very rank out of the gate, wonder if he just tired out and jockey eased him.
Speaking of lead ponies, Essential Quality had that enormous Appaloosa. What a big guy. And always braided beautifully.
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He is a light horse, not heavy or tall and not heavily muscled. His pedigree is nothing to sneeze at though, IMHO.(Just a pedigree link not as complicated as it looks.) http://www.equineline.com/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm/Free-5X-Pedigree.cfm?page_state=DISPLAY_REPORT&reference_number=10459582®istry=T&horse_name=Medina+Spirit&foaling_year=&dam_name=&include_sire_line=Y&nicking_stats_indicator=Y&sire_reference_number=0&dam_reference_number=0&color=&sex=&hypo_foaling_year=&breeder=&include_truenick=Y&g-recaptcha-response=03AGdBq27PCGYKxsThZUsAFdfnsm8Z3O02KD9TtxSU2oNAlHj74PanG3RIc_UIRJdEigx1nSnklBHrrICabvOVS-lMXmPhSa7139CKXz0Mm2C9pVNMRt4e3uXm-Rppd6X99HWj5mhdvQVUeMbYaGOlK1DxC08q_bPv9JqAu6eoip_kMwbmiSmxpZgFlyDW4jdWzph_VJ5ctvFEzHPnT4xSXh5RSXn1YgmfSj4qP9uoVaI6R6KRZgWKuFKodPTX8pHEwX2i2dBYusFsOaxiJKNjXi3RSB2Q8CIf--4IW16-FVsAeW7Ud0FD23V0k1Ut9ASc3BZfcPfDtpDhsF8Zye93tADpTT2626K5YdMes_x70aIgr-84knYoO4f9qVZ98YcGO2xB6jqQTFJKdUk7Jzi1duWPfl3sY_WDQoKj2kC-VD1IV3GjRrHHV6eps29KolkYOPoYf4pdwke0
Well done, and as always, great to see Johnny Velazquez come first, a most deserved winner.
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Equibase chart says he “weakened at the three furlong pole, wilted through the field around the far turn, and was eased through the lane”.
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Protonico (sire of Medina Spirit) was a very good racehorse, but not a superstar at stud. Currently standing for $5,000–that may change!
Medina Spirit rather looks like his dad.
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No, not a superstar at stud but a nice pedigree, Dam side for Medina as well. Class will tell when the right cross is made.
That is what makes TB breeding so very interesting. 
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Protonico is very handsome. He entered stud in 2017 so Medina Spirit is in his first crop.
Harley is the geldings name. We saw him work at the Breeders Cup in 2015 and he’s a cool guy.
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Harley 
He’s a fan favorite and has his own Breyer’s model
He’s an American Sugarbush Harlequin Draft who’s real name is Daisy’s Chief Dane. You can see him at both Keeneland and Churchill. I love watching him. He seems to often, not always, get the favorite and nothing seems to faze him in the least.
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Do the pony horses and riders travel to different tracks? Or would Harley and his rider stay at Churchill Downs all the time?
See above… they, I believe will travel only between fairly local tracks, they’re not the long distance travelers the racehorses are.
But yes, Harley can be seen at Keeneland and CD
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I’ve only seen Harley on Kentucky race tracks. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t travel, but I think he has enough work there.
Re Mattress Mack’s bid: There was an article in Bloodhorse that mentioned that MM always has some sort of promotion going on related to sporting events. This one was that if the favorite won the Kentucky Derby then anybody who was planning on buying some special sort of mattress ($2000 or thereabouts) would get it for free. So if the favorite did win, his promotion would be paid for in advance.
I think that during The Freeze in Texas that he opened his store to all of the displaced people so that they had some place to go that was warm and dry. He’s a nice guy.
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Mattress Mack is a local hero. He opened his stores for shelters during Hurricane Harvey too.
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He welcomed displaced people into his store after Hurricane Harvey too. There were pictures of people sleeping in his showrooms.
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When we were at the Breeders Cup I talked to an outrider. He had a plain bay TB whom he adored and said he owed his livelihood to his horse.
The BC races were the last races at Keenland for the season. He said that night they would load up and drive the one hour to Louisville to work the races starting up there.
Yes. I’m aware of that, hence my post 
He also allows people to bring their pets.
On a different note - this was probably the first time the 3 year olds on today’s card experienced anything like a full grandstand, let alone all the Derby pomp and circumstance.
