A large crowd was on-hand today at Hastings Racecourse to see a hometown favourite win the fabled Kentucky Derby.

Former Vancouver resident Mario Gutierrez rode Nyquist first across the finish line.

The thoroughbred is owned by J. Paul Reddam, who held the trophy aloft with Gutierrez after the race.

Reddam, a Detroit Red Wings fan, named the horse after hockey player Gustav Nyquist.

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Nyquist was a 2-1 favourite. The next event in horseracing's triple crown, the Preakness Stakes, is on May 21 at the Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

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In 2007, Vancouver horse owner Glen Todd brought the then 19-year-old Gutierrez from Mexico to the Hastings Racecourse.

In Vancouver, the Veracruz-born jockey honed his skills before rising to the top of the racing world riding in 2012. That's when he rode I'll Have Another to the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner's circles.

“It’s just like with singers,” Todd told the Georgia Straight in 2012. “They need to get a break, and Mario got a break and away he went."

I'll Have Another was unable to compete in the Belmont Stakes, which is the third triple crown race.