Kentucky Derby 2026: Time, TV info, the horses, and everything else to know

Is it already May?

The fast-moving calendar means we’ve arrived at the start horse racing’s Triple Crown, the 152nd Kentucky Derby, which will air on NBC Saturday night for the 26th straight year.

Most experts consider this year’s Run for the Roses to be wide open. So open that as of just a few days ago, NBC analysts Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey hadn’t come to a firm opinion on which horse they thought was most likely to win.

“It’s almost a cliché,” Moss said on a conference call this week, “but this year is even more wide open than usual.”

The odd favorite entering the race at Churchill Downs is Renegade (4-1), who easily won the Arkansas Derby in late March but starts the race in post position No. 1. In the past 63 years just two horses have won the Derby starting in the dreaded one hole — Ferdinand in 1986 and Chateaugay in 1963.

Another horse to keep an eye on is Tampa Bay Derby winner The Puma (10-1), who finished a close second in the Florida Derby and may or may not be partially owned by star couple Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

“OK people. Everyone asking me if Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are partners on The Puma,” Michael Iavarone, the horse’s co-owner, wrote in a recent Instagram story, according to Fox Sports. “All I can say is I signed an NDA, so I can’t confirm or deny.”

While the race itself is the main course for millions of viewers, in Philadelphia it’s just an appetizer for the 76ers’ win-or-go-home Game 7 against the Boston Celtics, which will air on NBC immediately after the Derby.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the 2026 Kentucky Derby:

NBC’s live coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. Philly time. The Derby will post at 6:57 p.m.

Earlier coverage of the undercard races will begin at noon on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service.

Mike Tirico, the voice of just about every sport these days on NBC, will handle hosting duties for his 10th straight Derby. Hopefully it goes better than last year, when he had to bail early because of a minor health scare.

“I had an allergy issue, and Ahmed Fareed was incredible jumping in,” Tirico said. “I’d like to get the whole mile and a quarter in, this time around.”

Joining Tirico, Moss, and Bailey will be handicappers Eddie Olczyk and Matt Bernier, and a host of reporters. One worth spotlighting is former jockey Donna Brothers, the only member of NBC’s team to work each of their 26 Derbies, who announced last week she’s retiring and covering her final Run for the Roses.

Also back will be numbers geek Steve Kornacki, who chose NBC in its divorce with cable properties like MSNOW (formerly MSNBC) and CNBC (which lost the peacock in the split), which are now part of Versant.

In addition to Renegade and The Puma, Kornacki is keeping his eye on the other top horses from the Florida Derby — Commandment (6-1) and Chief Wallabee (14-1). There’s also Potente (20-1), one of two horses from celebrated trainer Bob Baffert, who is looking for a record seventh Derby win.

Last year, Sovereignty bested favorite Journalism in a sloppy, mud-filled race that also included a review of a traffic-choked start.

Sovereignty defeated Journalism again in the 2025 Belmont Stakes, but skipped the Preakness (which Journalism won), dashing hopes of a Triple Crown.

Twenty horses are set to face off in the Kentucky Derby, assuming there aren’t any further scratches.

So far there’s been three — Right to Party (right front lameness), Silent Tactic (bruised foot), and Fulleffort (bone chip in left ankle).

The late additions are Great White, Ocelli, and Robusta, a longshot trained by two-time Derby winner Doug F. O’Neill.

Any more scratches and the race will dip down below 20 horses, the maximum allowed in the Derby.

Here are their odds as of Friday afternoon, listed by their starting position (check out our horse-by-horse guide for more detailed information):

While the race is commonly known as “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports,” the Derby’s fastest horse finished the race a hair faster.

In 1973, Triple Crown winner Secretariat set the current Derby record after posting a 1:59.40 race time, becoming the first horse to finish in under two minutes.

The only other horse to finish in under two minutes in the more than five decades since was Monarchos in 2001, which posted a 1:59.97 race time.

The Triple Crown’s big three races are the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes, which will be run at Saratoga Racetrack for the third straight year due to construction work at Belmont Park.

Since 1875, the first year all three races were run in the same year, only 13 horses have won the Triple Crown. The most recent was Justify in 2018, preceded by American Pharoah in 2015.

This year’s schedule is: