Oscar De La Hoya, RIGHT, backs Floyd Mayweather Jr. into the corner during the first round of their WBC super welterweight championship bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Mayweather won Saturday's fight via a split decision.

Louisville, Ky. ? A mile into the Kentucky Derby, all the other horses were motoring along in fourth gear when Street Sense kicked it into fifth. Then he zeroed in on his last challenger, Hard Spun, went wide, and burned up the final quarter-mile like a dragster.

“After that,” jockey Calvin Borel said, “it was just a matter of how far he’d win.”

Street Sense showed plenty of that Saturday by smartly picking his way through traffic, roaring from next-to-last in a 20-horse field to win by 21â4 lengths. His final move was so powerful, it looked as though he might knock rival Any Given Saturday into the grandstand.

“Street Sense came blowing through there and it was like a big old wave,” jockey Garrett Gomez said. “He knocked my horse out from under me and knocked him off his feet again. But that’s the Kentucky Derby.”

The dark bay colt was so commanding that he broke two Derby jinxes and put a couple of guys in the winner’s circle late in their careers.

“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. This is the toughest race in the world to win,” trainer Carl Nafzger said.

While it was the 65-year-old Nafzger’s second Derby win in three tries, trainer Todd Pletcher, who had a record-tying five horses, was skunked again. He is now 0-for-19 in the Derby. Hard Spun finished second, and Curlin, the 5-1 second choice, lost for the first time in his four-race career

Imawildandcrazyguy was another half-length back in fourth and Sedgefield was fifth. Circular Quay, coming off an eight-week layoff, was sixth for Pletcher’s best finish.

Tiago was seventh, followed by Any Given Saturday, Sam P. and Nobiz Like Shobiz. Dominican was 11th, then came Zanjero, Great Hunter, Liquidity and Bwana Bull. Storm in May, who is blind in his right eye, was 16th, trailed by Teuflesberg, Scat Daddy, Stormello and Cowtown Cat in last.

Nafzger, who is nearly retired, wasn’t as emotional as he was in 1990, when Unbridled won for 92-year-old Frances Genter. Because of her faltering eyesight, Nafzger called the race in her ear so she could follow her colt to the finish line.

Then he gave her a big kiss when Unbridled crossed the finish line.

This time, Nafzger’s words to the 83-year-old Tafel were few and to the point.

“Mr. Tafel, we’re clear, we’re clear. It’s up to him now,” Nafzger said.

Nafzger and Tafel were taking a second shot at the Derby together. In 1999, Vicar finished 18th for the duo.

Nafzger works for just two owners now, having turned the day-to-day grind of his Churchill Downs stable over to an assistant. Besides Tafel, his other client is Genter’s son-in-law.

Pletcher, meanwhile, had five less-than-happy owners to answer to Saturday.

“I am disappointed that the horses didn’t run better,” he said. “It isn’t the end of the world if you don’t win the Kentucky Derby. I’m not going to go home tonight and cry. That’s just not the way.”

Street Sense became the first Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner to return in the spring and win on the first Saturday in May, snapping an 0-for-23 skid. He did so on the same track where he won the Juvenile by 10 lengths six months ago. He was also the first 2-year-old champion to win the Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979, and the first colt to win with two or fewer prep races since Sunny’s Halo in 1983.

Street Sense, sent off as the 9-2 favorite on his home track, ran 11â4 miles in 2:02.17 and paid $11.80, $6.40 and $4.60 as the highest-priced winning favorite in Derby history. Smarty Jones paid $10.20 to win in 2004.

Hard Spun returned $9.80 and $7, while Curlin was another 53â4 lengths back in third and paid $5.60 to show.

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, were among the 156,635 racing fans on hand, the third-largest crowd in the Derby’s 133 years. They watched from the fourth-floor clubhouse balcony overlooking the finish line. With the sun finally emerging before post time, they had a picturesque view of the famous Twin Spires.

Asked what it was like to win in front of royalty, Borel said jokingly, “It meant everything in the world.”

Street Sense left from the same No. 7 post as Unbridled 17 years ago.

Borel is the master of saving ground and demonstrated that skill as Street Sense dropped back at the start and headed for the rail. While Hard Spun shot to the lead, Street Sense tucked in 19th along the fence.

Borel still had a snug hold on the reins as Street Sense turned for home. A quarter of a mile from the finish, Borel finally moved Street Sense to the outside and they accelerated away from the pack. They quickly reeled in Hard Spun, catching him in the final eighth of a mile as Borel sneaked a peek over his right shoulder approaching the finish line.

Once they crossed it, Borel thrust his whip in the air in celebration, getting his first Derby win in five tries.

“He’ll do anything for you. He’s very push-button,” Borel said, referring to the winning colt. “I really don’t know how good he is because he always gives me something when I ask.”

At the finish, Nafzger wrapped his arm around Tafel, shook his hand and pumped his left fist.

By the time the two made their way to the crowded winner’s circle, the white-haired Tafel was beaming.

“This is the aspiration of anybody and everybody in the horse business. It’s just overwhelming,” said Tafel, retired from a technical publishing company and living in Boynton Beach, Fla.