Kentucky Derby Recap - 2026

It’s often said that The Kentucky Derby is “the most exciting two minutes in sports”.

This year, for some reason, I was really studying and reviewing in the weeks leading up to it. I do have a horse betting account and I like to focus on the Derby and up my action a bit.

I watched quite a few Youtube videos with handicappers discussing the race, but I mostly watched the prior races of the contenders and worked them into my approach.

Of course, there are always “story lines” and angles, sometimes about the horses themselves, or the trainers, or the jockeys, or the owners. You have to sort through what might be important and what might just be distracting.

I was initially keen on Renegade, who won the Arkansas Derby impressively. I mean, VERY powerfully with a huge closing burst. But, he drew the #1 post (in a 20 horse field) and that is not a good thing and the rail hadn’t won the Derby since 1986! Still, he seemed like a factor, AND, his jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. rides mostly in New York and is probably the best jockey in the country. He was winless in 9 rides in the Derby and seemed due. Renegade is trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, who is always a factor.

I kept an open mind, and Felicia expressed some interest in Golden Tempo, who would be starting from the #19 post and was kind of a longshot. She said Golden Tempo has a female trainer and that no female trainer had ever won the Kentucky Derby. As I looked into it, I noted a few other items. The trainer, Cherie Devaux, came from a harness racing background, and her brother was a driver at Saratoga Harness. This was noteworthy for us, since we’ve been involved in harness racing and my brother was in the biz as a trainer/driver for many years. Also, the jockey for Golden Tempo was Jose Ortiz (Irad’s brother), who is also a top jockey and had never won the Derby either. Not only that, the day before the Derby, he rode the winner in the Kentucky Oaks (the filly equivalent of the Kentucky Derby) with an awesome ride. One last thing, both Renegade and Golden Tempo are late closers, meaning they tend to stay near the back of the pack and close strongly. It struck me that Golden Tempo would be in a position to follow or track Renegade when he made his big move. Golden Tempo went off at 23-1.

Here’s the race:

As awesome as that is, check out this view……

Here’s the trainer Cherie Devaux, as the horses came down the stretch….

I also loved the interview with jockey Jose Ortiz right after the race. As you will see, he is understandably emotional. A few minutes into the interview, the interviewer asks him about his childhood in Puerto Rico and whether he had anything to say to young people there. He said, essentially, “have a good attitude, and learn English!”

In some other post-race interviews, Jose Ortiz noted that he knew Renegade would close strongly and he thought tracking him was a good idea. Yup!

Finally, check out this video of the announcer calling the race….

So, not only did we make a few bucks, it felt like being part of a fateful story. Every so often we figure things right!