Sovereignty defeated a field of 18 challengers to win the 151st Kentucky Derby Saturday evening at Churchill Downs amid soggy conditions. Sovereignty entered the race with 5-to-1 odds.

(Reuters) -Sovereignty won the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky, in a thrilling fight to the finish line on Saturday to capture the first leg of U.S. thoroughbred racing's famed Triple Crown.

The two colts hooked up for a sixteenth of a mile for a thrilling battle against the backdrop of 147,406 roaring and rain-soaked fans before Sovereignty surged ahead inside the eighth pole and