BALTIMORE — When I texted my family group chat that I’d be riding a horse for the sake of Preakness week content — pulling back the curtain of life as a jockey to see if I have what it takes — my mom replied with an iPhone photo of a grainy, printed out shot of her horseback riding 40 years ago.

That distant photo by association, and ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Trainer Bob Baffert loves to come to the Preakness. He loves the fact that all the top horses are in the same barn, so he can kibitz with his fellow trainers, such as an extended conversation with Mark Casse about the best crabcakes in town. He loves the casual atmosphere, in contrast to the high stakes, high pressure feeling at ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The connections around Kentucky Derby runner-up Journalism were rather coy about whether their horse would run in the 150th Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. It was a game of wait and see until a pronouncement on social media Sunday night that the colt was coming to Pimlico.

Now that the 3-year-old Santa Anita ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Not that long ago, a transplant from Atlanta told me that back home her family owned horses in Georgia. She said her mother was coming to Lexington for a visit, so I suggested that they go to Keeneland to take in the races.

The next time I saw her I asked if her mother had a good time at Keeneland.

“To be honest,” she ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Jockey Junior Alvarado has been fined and suspended for whipping Sovereignty too many times during his Kentucky Derby-winning ride last Saturday at Churchill Downs.

The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority on Friday ordered Alvarado to pay a $62,000 fine and suspended him for two Kentucky racing days, May 29 and May 30....Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — It was certainly no surprise Tuesday when news broke that Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty would not run in the Preakness Stakes in less than two weeks.

Anyone around Bill Mott’s barn at Churchill Downs on Sunday morning, less than 24 hours after Sovereignty beat the favorite Journalism, got the vibe that the Godolphin ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Horse racing will not have a Triple Crown winner this year.

Mike Rogers, executive vice president at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, announced Tuesday that Pimlico had received a call from trainer Bill Mott saying that Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty will not run in the May 17 Preakness Stakes.

Instead, Sovereignty will ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Poor Mike Tirico had to be scratched Saturday from the NBC Sports telecast of the 151st Kentucky Derby. The veteran broadcaster explained subsequently that he had been sidelined by “a significant reaction to my nut allergy.”

Tirico, 58, not only missed out on hosting the coverage of the hard-charging Sovereignty’s ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — When Bill Mott rolled out of bed early Sunday morning, his wife asked the winning trainer of Kentucky Derby 151 if he believed it yet.

“I told her it’s starting to sink in,” Mott said Sunday morning as he stood in a light rain outside his barn at Churchill Downs.

One of the classiest and most respected trainers in the...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Twelve times Godolphin had attempted to win the Kentucky Derby.

Twelve times Goldophin had failed.

But it wasn’t just the lucky 13 that propelled the global racing outfit to its first Kentucky Derby victory on Saturday when the Godolphin homebred Sovereignty won the 151st running by 1 1/2 lengths on a sloppy track over ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Bill Mott is in the Hall of Fame. He won the Kentucky Derby in 2019, but it was by disqualification. The trainer never got to see his horse cross the finish line first. Until now.

In an exciting stretch run Sovereignty and Journalism battled until the final strides when Sovereignty pulled ahead to win the 151st Kentucky ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Back in 1967, Bill Mott was a 14-year-old boy sitting on the front seat of a GMC pickup truck in South Dakota listening to Proud Clarion with Bobby Ussery aboard win the Kentucky Derby.

“At that time I would never dreamed that I would come to Kentucky. I couldn’t even imagine being at Churchill Downs,” Mott said ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On March 23, Junior Alvarado was riding a horse named Term in the 10th race at Florida’s Gulfstream Park when things went horribly awry.

As the race was running, Term suffered a heart attack. The horse dropped to the track, dead.

Alvarado was dislodged and fell to the ground himself.

It turned out, the throbbing pain in ...Read more

Sovereignty has won the 151st Kentucky Derby, beating the favorite Journalism on a sloppy track soaked with rain at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado, 38, described the win as a “dream come true” that “meant the world to me.”

“I thought I had a great chance,” said Alvarado, thanking Sovereignty’...Read more

A nut allergy forced NBC Sports announcer Mike Tirico to make an unexpected exit from the Kentucky Derby broadcast Saturday afternoon.

Tirico had been off the air for a while Saturday afternoon because of an unexplained illness, but as post time drew nearer, NBC mentioned that Tirico was experiencing an allergic reaction and would not be back ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sovereignty won the 151st edition of the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby on Saturday night in Louisville, besting a field of 19 horses beneath the Twin Spires on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty went off at 7-1 odds.

The Churchill Downs main track was ...Read more

A cloudy sky and cover of rainfall may dampen Saturday’s 151st Kentucky Derby, but it’s unlikely to break precipitation records.

Light to moderate rain was falling across Louisville, Ky., much of Saturday morning, with the temperature around a moderate 58 degrees Fahrenheit as of 11 a.m. ET. As of noon Saturday, Louisville had seen a total ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Last year’s Kentucky Derby champion will once again be racing on the first Saturday in May — but a long way from Churchill Downs.

The 2024 champion will run in the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile race for horses aged 4 and older at Oaklawn Park, in hopes of his first victory since the three-horse photo finish...Read more

The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby is this weekend, and even if you’re not planning on attending in person in Louisville, you may still want to get in on the action.

The Run for the Roses is Saturday, May 3 at Churchill Downs. While some people may be planning on making the trip, many will also be betting on the race from afar.

Placing ...Read more

A club of 20 star horses awaits the winner of the 151st Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Those are the living winners of the Run for the Roses, led by 31-year old Silver Charm. Many of them are located in Central Kentucky, including three retired from their stud careers to Old Friends Farm in Georgetown.

The club lost one member in the last year ...Read more