Kentucky Derby

In its second year as an official partner of the Kentucky Derby, FanDuel experienced increases in key metrics across the board on the first Saturday in May. Highlights include: Double digit year-over-year growth for active account holders, a record for the Kentucky Derby and the biggest day of racing ever for FanDuel Group. Peak bets on Saturday were at Super Bowl levels and the wagering platform performed without interruption. More than 700k customers bet the Kentucky Derby with FanDuel Group (last year was ~500k). Estimated over 200k customers bet on...

Two days after an exciting three-way photo for the win in the GI Kentucky Derby, public speculation continued to simmer about the roughly-run stretch battle between the second- and third-place finishers. It's the second time in five years that the stewards at Churchill Downs are being openly questioned over why they didn't announce an inquiry to let the public know they were actively investigating a potential infraction in America's most important and historic horse race. But despite the mild controversy that is largely playing out online and on social media,...

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas confirmed both Seize the Grey (Arrogate) and Just Steel (Justify) would go on to Baltimore with an eye on the GI Preakness S. after runs this past Saturday at Churchill Downs, the Maryland Jockey Club announced Monday. Seize the Grey won the GII Pat Day Mile S. while Just Steel wound up 17th in the GI Kentucky Derby. "We'll bring both of ours," Lukas confirmed to the Maryland Jockey Club media Monday. "We will be there Monday." Meanwhile, Derby hero Mystik Dan (Goldencents),...

This past weekend, my husband and I brought five of his old high school friends to their first Kentucky Derby. The group grew up together in Baltimore and while some of them have been to the infield at the Preakness, the Derby was their first authentic race-day experience. They flew in from various parts of the East Coast. One is an engineer, two are wealth managers, one works in investment banking and another is in business consulting. They are all hard-working, fun, intelligent 26 and 27 year olds. In short,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - While most of the racing world was focused on the 150th GI Kentucky Derby run last Saturday at Churchill Downs, the final stop on the Triple Crown series--the 156th GI Belmont S., some six weeks hence on June 8--is already at the top of the charts for plenty of people in this horse-centric upstate city. In order to accommodate the massive makeover of Belmont Park, New York Racing Association officials decided last year to stage the 2024 and 2025 runnings of the Belmont S. at Saratoga...

NBC Sports' presentation of Saturday's Kentucky Derby averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 16.7 million viewers, the largest Derby audience since 18.5 million viewers watched Sunday Silence's 1989 victory on ABC, according to figures released by the network Sunday. Viewership peaked at 20.1 million viewers from 7-7:15 p.m. ET, as Mystik Dan edged Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the Kentucky Derby's first three-horse photo finish since 1947. Saturday's peak audience was the largest ever for an NBC Sports presentation of the Kentucky Derby. With 16.7 million viewers, the...

Veteran jockey Jon Court rode the final race of his career Sunday afternoon at Oaklawn Park. Court, 63, entered Sunday with 4,263 victories and $114,023,582 in purse earnings in his career, totals that rank 67th and 59th, respectively, in North American history, according to Equibase. "It's time," Court said moments after his final career stakes mount, Navy Seal, finished fifth in the Arkansas Breeders' Saturday at Oaklawn. "It's something I've been thinking about for a while. People have been asking me a lot. I've had a great 43 years. I'm...

With the leading GI Kentucky Derby runners looking likely to skip the May 18 GI Preakness S., a wave of non-Derby starters are lining up for the second leg of the Triple Crown. Trainer Bob Baffert, whose horses were banned from the Derby, confirmed GI Arkansas Derby winner Muth (Good Magic) and stablemate Imagination (Into Mischief), who won the GII San Felipe S. before finishing a narrow runner-up behind Stronghold (Ghostzapper) in the GI Santa Anita Derby last time out, are both expected for the Preakness. The duo breezed in...

It was back in 2006 and Brian Hernandez, Jr. was mired in 12th place in the jockey standings at Churchill Downs with 14 wins. It wasn't that he had been a failure. He won an Eclipse Award in 2004 as the nation's top apprentice, winning 243 races that year. And before moving to the Kentucky circuit in 2006, he was among the top riders at Evangeline Downs and Delta Downs in his native Louisiana. It's just that Hernandez had larger goals and he was starting to worry they would never...

Asked to sum up his victory with Mystik Dan (Goldencents) in Saturday's GI Kentucky Derby, trainer Ken McPeek succinctly said, "Wow," Sunday morning on the Churchill Downs backside. An 18-1 outsider, Mystik Dan just held on to a nose victory after a rail-skimming trip under Brian Hernandez, Jr. "Brian Hernandez gave him the ride," a joyous but sleep-deprived McPeek said. "Look, he doesn't win the race without the job Brian did." For his part, Hernandez was appreciative of McPeek's faith in him. "I was fortunate to ride for Kenny," said...

LOUISVILLE, KY -- Trainer Ken McPeek told anyone who would listen after Friday's GI Kentucky Oaks victory with Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna) that his GI Kentucky Derby aspirant, Mystik Dan (Goldencents), could very well jump up and win, too. It seemed a bit far fetched given the last time a trainer had won the Kentucky Derby and Oaks in the same year was back in 1952 when Ben Jones accomplished the feat with Real Delight and Hill Gail. Defying the odds, and history, the Kentucky horseman completed the double Saturday...

NBC Sports will continue to present the Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock through 2032, Churchill Downs and NBC Sports announced Saturday. The extension of the NBC Sports-Churchill Downs relationship--which began with the 2001 Kentucky Derby--makes NBC the longest-running home of the Derby, and NBCUniversal the first media company to present the Kentucky Derby over three decades. "As we celebrate the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs is proud to extend the relationship with NBC Sports," said Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen. "As our media partner for the last...