BALTIMORE — The 2026 Preakness Stakes will take place Saturday at Laurel Park. Here’s a look at the 14-horse field and expected contenders after Monday night’s post position draw:

Taj Mahal, post position 1

A potential favorite of Maryland fans, Taj Mahal has raced three times in his career and won all three times. Each race took place ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Oaks’ shift to prime time in an attempt to get more eyes on Churchill Downs — and more money in the purse — from the 152nd running of the iconic race seems to have worked for the Louisville horse racing company.

The prime-time broadcast on NBC not only set viewership records, it also set wagering records, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The purists and the traditionalists are right. The sanctity of the Triple Crown is a credit to its unparalleled difficulty.

Many have tried and failed. Still, racing the second leg was, historically, a rite of passage for the Kentucky Derby winner. Only 13 horses have swept the three major races in the past 107 years. And only ...Read more

BALTIMORE — There will be no Triple Crown winner this year.

Golden Tempo, the 3-year-old thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby with a brilliant come-from-behind effort, will not run in the Preakness Stakes on May 16.

Trainer Cherie DeVaux posted in a statement on social media that she believes the “best decision for him moving forward is...Read more

An event that traces its roots to 1875, the Kentucky Derby is as much a 2026 phenomenon as Ella Langley.

According to NBC Sports, the telecast of 23-1 shot Golden Tempo’s worst-to-first charge to victory in the 152nd Run for the Roses was watched by an average of 19.6 million television/internet streaming viewers.

From 7 to 7:15 p.m. ...Read more

The 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby broke the ratings record for the most-watched Kentucky Derby ever, with an average 19.6 million viewers, according to NBC.

The NBC broadcast generated nearly 2 million more average viewers than last year’s race, which was the most watched Kentucky Derby in 36 years. NBC said the broadcast peaked at 24.4...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Eighty-nine years after Mary Hirsch became the first woman trainer to enter a horse in the Kentucky Derby, Cherie DeVaux completed the journey.

All it took for women’s sports history on North American horse racing’s biggest stage was a hard-charging, 23-1 long-shot, Golden Tempo, who rallied from dead last to hold the ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — I was sailing through Churchill Downs aimlessly, chasing a white whale of a story as a first-time Kentucky Derby attendee whose job was to find interesting sights and scenes.

It was all new to me — the vendors handing out free mint juleps, the elaborate walkways between varying millionaires’ suites — but nothing sung ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland is committing more than half a billion dollars to rebuild Pimlico Race Course and try to preserve its horse racing industry, a gamble made as the project’s costs balloon and its expected returns remain uncertain as the sport shrinks.

The plan calls for $400 million to build a new Pimlico in northwest Baltimore’s Park ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Brother jockeys have squared off against each other in the Derby 11 times, but never before has a family rivalry played out like the 152nd Run for the Roses.

Down the stretch, brothers Jose and Irad Ortiz on Golden Tempo and Renegade, respectively, both came charging from the outside. As the pair passed leader Ocelli, it ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Golden Tempo won the 152nd running of the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby on Saturday night on an unseasonably chilly, but ultimately sunny, day at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Cherie DeVaux and ridden by Jose Ortiz, Golden Tempo emerged from a field of 18 horses to win the Run for the Roses.

The horse claimed the Derby ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Golden Tempo bested a field of 18 runners on Saturday night to win the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

Golden Tempo’s victory in one of the most prestigious horse races in the world was historic. Cherie DeVaux is the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner.

The victory is also a lucrative one. ...Read more

Great White, owned by Three Chimneys Farm and trainer John Ennis, bucked and fell just moments before the Kentucky Derby, toppling jockey Alex Achard onto the track at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

As other horses were being loaded into the starting gate, the gray gelding reared onto his hind legs and fell to his back, then flipped over and ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Golden Tempo won the 152nd running of the Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby on Friday night on an unseasonably chilly, but ultimately sunny, day at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Cherie DeVaux and ridden by Jose Ortiz, Golden Tempo emerged from a field of 18 horses to win the Run for the Roses.

The horse just claimed the ...Read more

This year’s Kentucky Derby will be the most luxurious ever — part of a nearly $1 billion investment plan to fortify horse racing’s marquee event as the sport faces declining interest.

Churchill Downs Inc., the publicly traded owner of the Derby and other racetracks, is offering ever more lavish experiences for deep-pocketed fans, ...Read more

Now far more white than his namesake silver, Silver Charm celebrated his 32nd birthday in February at Old Friends Farm in Georgetown.

The oldest living Kentucky Derby winner is now just more than a year from Count Fleet’s record as the longest-lived Derby winner ever. Silver Charm is one of 21 living Derby winners.

Many of the living Derby ...Read more

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Always a Runner won a historic 152nd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks on Friday night under the lights and beneath the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Trained by Chad Brown and ridden by Jose Ortiz, Always a Runner captured the signature race for 3-year-old fillies over a field of 13 ...Read more

For the third time during Kentucky Derby week, there’s been a change to the expected race field.

On Friday morning, Right to Party scratched out of the Derby due to lameness in his right front leg.

This moves Robusta — who began the week third on the also-eligible list for the race — into the Derby field.

Robusta — who is trained by ...Read more

Bob Baffert is flying under the radar as this year’s Kentucky Derby creeps closer.

That’s an unusual spot for the famed 73-year-old trainer to be in at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Last year marked Baffert’s return to the Run for the Roses after being away for three years. The context surrounding that absence — Baffert won the 2021 ...Read more

Those looking for a handicapping edge in Saturday night’s Grade 1, $5 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville should look to the top of the odds board, then disregard it.

The Derby is currently in a dry spell when it comes to favorites winning the race.

It’s been eight years since the post-time favorite has won the Derby. ...Read more