23-1 longshot Golden Tempo surged past favorite Renegade in the stretch to win the 152nd Kentucky Derby. Trainer Cherie Devaux became the first female trainer in history to win America's greatest race. Jockey Jose Ortiz delivered a masterclass ride.
Start here — the complete picture in four cards.
The Kentucky Derby is the opening race of the American Triple Crown — the three-race series that also includes the Preakness Stakes (May 16) and the Belmont Stakes (June 6). To win the Triple Crown, a horse must win all three in the same spring. Only 13 horses in history have done it. The Derby is where the dream begins.
The Derby is restricted to three-year-old horses — every horse in the race was born in 2023. This is their one and only shot. There's no second chance at a different age. Horses who missed last year were too young; horses who missed will be too old next year. The race captures a very specific moment in a thoroughbred's career.
The winning horse is draped in a garland of 554 red roses — hence the nickname "The Run for the Roses." The tradition dates to the late 19th century. Churchill Downs is decorated with roses throughout Derby week, and the rose has been the official state flower of Kentucky since 1926, the same year it became the official Derby flower.
Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky hosts around 150,000 people on Derby day — one of the largest single-day crowds in American sport. The infield holds tens of thousands of festival-goers in a famous, boisterous atmosphere. Derby week is a week-long celebration in Louisville, with the Kentucky Oaks race for fillies held the day before on Friday, May 1.
Results, profiles, and the full story of May 2, 2026.
23-1 longshot. Trainer Cherie Devaux made history as the first female trainer to win the Derby. Jockey Jose Ortiz delivered a perfect ride. Full winner profile and race recap.
Complete profiles on every horse in the 2026 Derby — how they qualified, their trainer and owner storylines, and how the race unfolded for each of them.
From Aristides in 1875 to Secretariat's legendary 1973 run to Golden Tempo in 2026 — the full story of America's greatest race and the moments that defined it.
Two minutes that feel like twenty — here's what to watch for.
Twenty horses break from the starting gate simultaneously — one of the most dangerous and chaotic moments in sport. Inner post positions mean a shorter path to the first turn; outer posts mean the jockey must work to get a good position. The first turn sorts out initial running order and sets the tone for the whole race.
The field settles into running order during the backstretch. Front-runners try to control pace and discourage challengers. Closers sit near the back, conserving energy for a late run. The far turn is where the race begins in earnest — jockeys ask for more, and the field starts to spread. Watch the wide horses trying to make up ground.
The home stretch is about 1,234 feet long — a long run to the wire at Churchill Downs. This is where the late-closing horses make their move, surging past tiring front-runners. Or where a front-runner finds one last gear and holds on. The crowd noise becomes deafening. A photo finish is common. The wire ends it all.
The ideal Derby horse combines raw speed, stamina, soundness, and tractability. Speed alone is not enough — the 1¼-mile distance is demanding for three-year-olds who have rarely run that far. The best Derby winners typically have a sharp finishing kick, a clean prep race record, and a trainer who knows how to peak a horse for one specific day. Post position matters too — horses drawn to the inside have a shorter path, but the outside gives more running room at the break. Post 5 has produced the most Derby winners historically.
The Derby winner immediately becomes the favorite for the Preakness — and Triple Crown glory.
Winner: Golden Tempo (23-1)
Trainer: Cherie Devaux · Jockey: Jose Ortiz
2nd: Renegade · 3rd: Ocelli
1&frac3;16 miles. Two weeks after the Derby. Horses who skipped the Derby often enter here, making for a tricky field to navigate.
1½ miles. "The Test of the Champion." The longest of the three — where Triple Crown bids have been broken or crowned.
Golden Tempo's Kentucky Derby win makes him the immediate Preakness favorite. The second leg of the Triple Crown runs on May 16, 2026 at Pimlico in Baltimore. Whether Cherie Devaux points toward the Preakness — and potentially a Triple Crown bid — is the biggest question in racing right now. Renegade (2nd) could also return for Pimlico, setting up a rematch in two weeks. The last Triple Crown winner was Justify in 2018.
How the 152nd Kentucky Derby unfolded.
How the race answered the questions that defined the run-up to May 2.
At 23-1, Golden Tempo was not the most-discussed horse entering the Derby. Trainer Cherie Devaux had prepared him quietly, without headline-grabbing Speed Figures or a dominant prep race. That quiet path turned out to be exactly right. Jose Ortiz settled him off the pace, found a gap at the quarter pole, and the horse responded with a devastating surge that swept past Renegade in the final furlong. The victory made Devaux the first female trainer in 152 years of Kentucky Derby history to win the race. Full winner profile →
Renegade did everything right. The Arkansas Derby winner broke from Post 1, controlled the early pace, led at the top of the stretch, and held on gamely — finishing second. The concern about Post 1's historical record proved founded: no winner has come from that gate since Ferdinand in 1986. But Irad Ortiz Jr. rode a professional race on a horse that ran his heart out. Steve Asmussen and Tom Whitfield's long journey came achingly close. Renegade is a serious Preakness contender. Full profile →
In one of the great sibling sporting moments of recent memory, Jose Ortiz (Golden Tempo) and his older brother Irad Ortiz Jr. (Renegade) finished first and second in the 152nd Kentucky Derby. Both are among the top three jockeys in North America. They faced each other down the Churchill Downs stretch, and the younger brother prevailed. The family will celebrate together — and the sport will talk about this for years.
The two other short-priced contenders — Commandment (Florida Derby winner, Bill Mott, Luis Saez) and Further Ado (Blue Grass Stakes record-holder, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez) — finished out of the money. Commandment's late-closing style found traffic in a crowded stretch. Further Ado, asked to overcome Post 18, never found a clear run. The Pletcher-Velazquez machine and the Mott-Chen partnership will regroup.
Emerging Market — Klaravich Stables' American Pharoah colt trained by Chad Brown — ran a respectable race but couldn't reach the leaders. Brown remains the most accomplished trainer of his era yet to win the Kentucky Derby. The American Pharoah pedigree did not deliver the stamina edge Brown believed it would. The search for Derby glory continues.
23-1 Golden Tempo joins a celebrated list of Derby longshot winners — Rich Strike (80-1 in 2022), Mine That Bird (50-1 in 2009), Country House (65-1 in 2019). The Derby's 20-horse field, first-time distance, and one-shot nature reliably produce upsets. Anyone who took a flier on Golden Tempo at 23-1 collected approximately $48 on a $2 win ticket — not as dramatic as Rich Strike, but a very healthy return on a horse who had every reason to win once the right trip materialized.