2026 Kentucky Derby guide: Date, location, time, TV channels, betting favorites and more

The hunt for horse racing's Triple Crown begins Saturday with the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky.

This year, the field of 3-year-old horses aren't the only ones drawing attention. Trainer Bob Baffert, whose horses have won the Kentucky Derby a record-tying six times, will have two horses in the field as he tries to become the race's all-time winningest trainer.

NBC Sports will provide coverage of the Derby all Saturday.

How to watch the 2026 Kentucky Derby

Date: Saturday, May 2

Live coverage time: Begins at 12 p.m. ET on Peacock and continues on NBC and Peacock at 2:30 p.m.

Post time for Kentucky Derby: 6:57 p.m. ET

Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky

TV Network: NBC

Streaming: Peacock

The essentials

Who: 20 3-year-old horses

Purse: $5 million ($3.1 million for first place)

Distance: 1¼ miles

Post positions with odds via NBC Sports

No. 1 Renegade (4-1)

• Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr. | Trainer: Todd Pletcher
• Career Highlight: The odds-on favorite to win won this year's Arkansas Derby and Sam F Davis Stakes.
• Fun Fact: A Kentucky Derby winner hasn't come from the first position since 1986. But Renegade is trained by a two-time Derby winner in Pletcher.

No. 2 Albus (30-1)

• Jockey: Manny Franco | Trainer: Riley Mott
• Career Highlight: Winning at Tampa Bay Downs on Feb. 27, and at Aqueduct on April 4.
• Fun Fact: Riley Mott is competing in the same race as his father, trainer Bill Mott. On its mother's side, is related to last year's winner, Sovereignty.

No. 3 Intrepido (50-1)

• Jockey: Hector I. Berrios | Trainer: Jeff Mullins
• Career Highlight: Won the 1 1/16th-mile American Pharaoh Stakes in October.
• Fun Fact: Comes into the Derby after losing by a huge margin, 10 lengths, in the Santa Anita Derby on April 4.

No. 4 Litmus Test (50-1)

• Jockey: Martin Garcia | Trainer: Bob Baffert
• Career Highlight: Won the Los Alamitos Futurity in the fall.
• Fun Fact: Litmus Test's father, Nyquist, was once named Horse of the Year.

No. 6 Commandment (6-1)

• Jockey: Luis Saez | Trainer: Brad Cox
• Career Highlight: Has won its last four races, including at the Florida Derby, and has more than $1 million in career earnings.
• Fun Fact: Cox has two horses in this race, along with Further Ado, and nearly had three until Fulleffort scratched.

No. 7 Danon Bourbon (20-1)

• Jockey: Atsuya Nishimura | Trainer: Manabu Ikezoe
• Career Highlight: Has won all three career races. But because all of those races took place in Japan, the horse has only raced on right hand-turning tracks.
• Fun Fact: Though born in Kentucky, Danon Bourbon raced exclusively in Japan, and a Japan-based horse has never won the Kentucky Derby.

No. 8 So Happy (15-1)

• Jockey: Mike Smith | Trainer: Mark Glatt
• Career Highlight: Winning the Santa Anita Derby by 2 3/4 lengths, one of three races it has won in four career starts.
• Fun Fact: Smith rode Justify to the 2018 Kentucky Derby victory.

No. 9 The Puma (10-1)

The Puma training at Churchill Downs on Wednesday. Michael Reaves / Getty Images

• Jockey: Javier Castellano | Trainer: Gustavo Delgado
• Career Highlight: Finished second in the Florida Derby. A good omen? Mage and Sovereignty also finished second in the same race before going on to win the Kentucky Derby.
• Fun Fact: Delgado was the trainer for Mage, and Castellano its rider, when the horse won this race in 2023.

No. 10 Wonder Dean (30-1)

• Jockey: Ryusei Sakai | Trainer: Daisuke Takayanagi
• Career Highlight: Winner of the UAE Derby.
• Fun Fact: The only horse in the field born in Japan.

No. 11 Incredibolt (20-1)

• Jockey: Jaime Torres | Trainer: Riley Mott
• Career Highlight: Won the Virginia Derby.
• Fun Fact: Won two races at Churchill Downs in the fall, but can this horse win after not racing for the past seven weeks?

No. 12 Chief Wallabee (8-1)

• Jockey: Junior Alvarado | Trainer: Bill Mott
• Career Highlight: Has won once, at Gulfstream Park, and took second in a stakes race at the same track.
• Fun Fact: Alvarado rode Sovereignty to the win in the 2025 Kentucky Derby. Mott has trained two winners since 2019 in Country House and 2025's Sovereignty.

No. 14 Potente (20-1)

• Jockey: Juan Hernandez | Trainer: Bob Baffert
• Career Highlight: Has won two of its three races, at Santa Anita Park on Jan. 31 and at the same venue on March 7. Faded to second at the Santa Anita Derby.
• Fun Fact: Both Potente and Commandment share the same sire, Into Mischief.

No. 15 Emerging Market (15-1)

• Jockey: Flavien Prat | Trainer: Chad Brown
• Career Highlight: Has won both its career races.
• Fun Fact: Enters with the fewest starts (2) of any horse in the field. Prat rode Country House to the 2019 win after a disqualification. Brown has trained two past Derby runners-up.

No. 16 Pavlovian (30-1)

• Jockey: Edwin Maldonado | Trainer: Doug O’Neill
• Career Highlight: Its results improved dramatically after wearing blinkers, including a win in the Sunland Derby.
• Fun Fact: Has experience on its side. Not only does Pavlovian enter with the most starts (10), its owner and trainer have twice won the Derby together.

No. 17 Six Speed (50-1)

• Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr. | Trainer: Bhupat Seemar
• Career Highlight: Owns three wins, with the last coming March 28, in five starts.
• Fun Fact: Known as quite a fast horse. Hernandez has ridden the winning horse once, in 2024 with Mystik Dan.

No. 18 Further Ado (6-1)

• Jockey: John Velazquez | Trainer: Brad Cox
• Career Highlight: Has earned $1.1 million in earnings in six starts.
• Fun Fact: Further Ado has the highest top-end speed of any horse in the field, according to both the Beyer Speed Figures and Brisnet Speed Ratings. Velazquez has been the winning jockey in 2011, 2017 and 2020.

No. 19 Golden Tempo (30-1)

• Jockey: Jose Ortiz | Trainer: Cherie DeVaux
• Career Highlight: Has raced four times, winning twice.
• Fun Fact: Tempo's father, Curlin, has sired three past Derby runners-up (Exaggerator, Good Magic, Journalism).

No. 21 Great White (50-1)

• Jockey: Alex Achard | Trainer: John Ennis
• Career Highlight: Great White has won two races but both were on synthetic tracks instead of dirt the kind it will run on at Churchill Downs.
• Fun Fact: Did not officially join the Derby field until Wednesday, after Silent Tactic's scratch.

No. 22 Ocelli (50-1)

• Jockey: Joseph Ramos | Trainer: D. Whitworth Beckman
• Career Highlight: Finished third in the high-profile Wood Memorial, but has yet to produce a victory in six starts.
• Fun Fact: Joined the field Thursday after Fulleffort was scratched following an X-ray showing a chip and fluid in Fulleffort's left hind ankle.
• No. 23 Robusta (50-1)

• Jockey: Cristian Torres | Trainer: Doug O'Neill
• Career Highlight: Has raced four times, all at Santa Anita Park on dirt. Robusta won its first race in January.
• Fun Fact: Joined the field Friday after Right to Party was scratched. This will be the first Kentucky Derby ride for Torres, who had been set to ride Silent Tactic this week until Tactic was scratched. Now, thanks to another scratch, Robusta (and Torres) are in the race.