Watch the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, 2 May and keep up to speed with action in one of the most prestigious horse races stateside.

This year is the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby and current favourite, Renegade, is aiming to become the first horse to win from the No. 1 post position since 1986.

At a glance

• Kentucky Derby date: 2 May 2026
• Watch Kentucky Derby on TV: Sky Sports Racing, Racing TV, NBC and Peacock
• Watch Kentucky Derby from anywhere: Use this NordVPN deal – 75% Off

How to watch the Kentucky Derby on TV

The UK’s free racing broadcaster ITV and the ITVX streaming service will not be showing the Kentucky Derby live, but you will be able to watch via the Sky Sports Racing Channel (Sky channel 415/ Virgin Media 535). Alternatively, Racing TV’s subscription-based service will also show the race (Sky channel 424/Virgin Media 536) .

In the US, you can watch on NBC and Peacock, with coverage from 2.30pm ET. The final race will be shown on FanDuel TV.

If you’re away from home, you can use NordVPN to secure your stream of the action from anywhere in the world.

What time is the Kentucky Derby?

The Kentucky Derby post time is 6.57pm local time (ET), which is 11.57pm BST. It will be the twelfth race of the day.

How to watch the Kentucky Derby from anywhere

If you’re away from home and your normal coverage is geo-blocked, a VPN will get you your usual coverage from anywhere in the world.

There are many VPN providers out there, with some more reliable and safe than others. We’d suggest using a paid-for service such as NordVPN, where you can get an exclusive 75% off, which offers a 100% risk-free money back guarantee. If you’re not happy with the service any time within the first 30-days, then you can cancel with no penalties at all.

What is the Kentucky Derby?

The Kentucky Derby is one of the most prestigious horse races in the USA. It is an American Grade One stakes race, run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky and is open to three-year-old Thoroughbred colts and fillies.

Held annually on the first Saturday in May, the Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown and is known by many as “the greatest two minutes in sport”.

The Kentucky Derby is run over a distance of 2,012 metres (about 1​¼ miles) with a prize of $3.1m (about £2.3m) going to the winner.

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news at major events throughout the year, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

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We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing. 

America’s first Triple Crown winner for quarter of a century, Secretariat’s speed records from 1973 still stand today. Jamie Haase tracks the enduring significance of the bright chestnut who reset racing’s boundaries

More than half a century later, Secretariat’s records and reputation still reign supreme,” said Leeanne Meadows Ladin, author and president of the non-profit Secretariat For Virginia.

Today, Leeanne lives in the farm manager’s house at Meadow Stable, Virginia, surrounded by a landscape that once raised and conditioned a young Secretariat – his foaling shed and yearling barn, largely untouched, are preserved as historic landmarks.

Earlier this year, nearly 350 acres of adjacent pastureland, including “The Cove,” locally known as Secretariat’s nursery, were placed under permanent conservation easements. From this vantage, Leeanne lives alongside a legacy firmly grounded – not distant history, but uninterrupted, a continuum between yesterday and tomorrow.

Horseracing in the United States dates to the early 17th century, with Long Island’s Newmarket Course, established in 1665, marking the first organised racetrack in colonial America. Named for Britain’s racing capital, it was designed to formalise English racing tradition throughout the colonies. Three centuries later, on Saturday, 9 June 1973, American thoroughbred racing reached a pinnacle never before seen – and never replicated since.

At the summit stood a chestnut colt whose supremacy not only secured the Triple Crown, but reset the sport’s boundaries. For five extraordinary weeks, the record books were not simply rewritten but reimagined and today Secretariat’s official times still stand unchallenged.

‘Everything about Secretariat is out of this world’

Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby in 1min 59.4sec over 1¼ miles and the Preakness Stakes in 1min 53sec over 1³⁄₁₆ miles. At Belmont Park, he completed the sweep with one of the most dominant performances in sporting history.

“Secretariat set a world record for a mile and a half, 2min 24sec, which still stands, and won the race by 31 lengths,” his owner, Penny Chenery, later wrote in The New York Times.

The 1973 season was not built on soft opposition. Sham, Secretariat’s chief rival, possessed speed that eclipsed many past Triple Crown winners, yet his abilities were repeatedly obscured by unparalleled athleticism. At Churchill Downs, before a record crowd of 134,476, Sham finished second after recording an estimated 1min 59⅘sec – fast enough to have set a new track record and to have won virtually any other Derby in history.

Under the protocols of the era, however, only the winner’s time was captured, leaving Sham’s performance unacknowledged – and Secretariat standing between him and immortality.

The Belmont Stakes, above all others, captured the performance that fixed Secretariat’s name in the public imagination, carried as much by the moment as by the voice that delivered it.

Calling the race, broadcaster Chic Anderson found the words on cue to match what was unfolding: “Secretariat is widening now, he is moving like a tremendous machine.” More than half a century later, the call endures as faithfully as the record it immortalised.

Secretariat won 16 of his 21 starts, earning $1,316,808 (£989,000). Behind those figures stood a team whose influence shaped the colt’s rise and restraint. Trainer Lucien Laurin served as an anchor, guiding a talent that could easily have outrun its own narrative.

He once described Secretariat as “beautiful, everything about him is out of this world… in all his races he has taken the worst of it by coming from behind, usually circling his field”.

For those who worked closest to him, the relationship was personal. Secretariat’s exercise rider Charlie Davis later reflected on the bond they shared: “We didn’t make Secretariat. Secretariat made us.”

Genetics further fuelled the Sham and Secretariat rivalry through their grandsire, Princequillo – a transatlantic influence conceived in France, born in Ireland and safeguarded in the United States during World War II. Sired by Prince Rose, Princequillo was imported by Arthur “Bull” Hancock Jr in 1945 and later stood at Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, leaving an intercontinental imprint on thoroughbred stamina.

Princequillo’s bloodline converged at Meadow Stable just north of Richmond, Virginia, before it reached the racetrack. After establishing the farm in 1936 and constructing many of its buildings himself, Christopher Chenery built the Meadow into one of the industry’s most respected breeding operations. It was there, on 30 March 1970, that Somethingroyal, in foal to Bold Ruler, delivered the future 1973 Triple Crown champion.

In 1967, as his health declined, Christopher Chenery’s daughter Penny Chenery assumed control of the Meadow. With her siblings urging liquidation, she chose instead to safeguard the operation, motivated as much by loyalty as by conviction. Her resolve was vindicated in 1972, when the home-bred Riva Ridge won both the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes.

That same year, Riva Ridge’s Meadow stablemate, the two-year-old Secretariat, was crowned Horse of the Year, quietly setting the stage for what was to follow.

Breaking records on and off the track

In 1973, entering his three-year-old season, Secretariat did not find his stride immediately, but when it came, it came decisively. Ángel Cordero Jr, the Hall of Fame jockey who beat Secretariat in his maiden start at New York City’s Aqueduct Racetrack, recalled a colt still in development, not yet the phenomenon he would become.

“When Secretariat first entered the scene, the jockeys all knew he was special, a great horse,” Ángel tells H&H. “But it wasn’t until he competed at Saratoga in the summer of 1972, stringing together decisive victories in the Sanford Stakes and the Hopeful Stakes, that we recognised just how astonishing he was.”

Penny Chenery already knew as much. Anticipating both opportunity and obligation, she chose to syndicate Secretariat into shared stud ownership before the 1973 campaign even began. The record-breaking $6.08m (£4.57m) agreement was announced on 26 February, little more than a month after her father’s death in January.

Meanwhile, Seth Hancock, newly installed as Claiborne Farm’s third-generation president at just 23, was also navigating the recent loss of his father, Bull Hancock, while assuming responsibility for both the farm and the Secretariat syndication. Seth later told H&H that one of the reasons the deal succeeded was that friends of his father stepped in to buy shares because they “didn’t want to see me fail”, support that helped make the agreement possible.

On 28 October 1973, in Toronto, Ontario, with the Triple Crown secured and his times fixed in the record books, Secretariat made his final start in the Canadian International Championship Stakes on Woodbine Racetrack’s cold turf, surging effortlessly to win by 6½ lengths.

The venue was a fitting farewell. Both trainer Lucien Laurin and jockey Ron Turcotte were Canadian, but Penny Chenery’s choice carried deeper resonance, reflecting the long-standing relationship between her father and the Canadian breeder, EP Taylor, of Windfields Farm. An architect of Woodbine and breeder of Northern Dancer and his Epsom Derby-winning son Nijinsky, Taylor became a trusted adviser after Christopher Chenery’s death and an early backer of the syndication.

After his final lap in Toronto, Secretariat was withdrawn from training and sent to Claiborne to begin stud duties. There would be no gradual winding down, no four-year-old campaign. He left the racetrack not in decline, but at full speed, his legacy intact.

Secretariat at stud

With competition in the rear-view, the bloodline enterprise began. Carrying extraordinary expectations, Secretariat arrived at Claiborne on 12 November 1973, taking up residence in the stall once occupied by his sire, Bold Ruler.

From his early crops emerged high-class performers, including Kentucky Derby runner-up General Assembly, Breeders’ Cup-winning filly Lady’s Secret and dual Classic winner Risen Star.

Yet as his lineage evolved, it became clear that Secretariat was the exception, not the rule. For all his brilliance on the track, he could not reproduce himself in direct male succession, a familiar pattern in racing, where athleticism often proves easier to display than to transmit through DNA. His more enduring influence flowed through his daughters. As a broodmare sire, his impact shaped elite pedigrees worldwide, most notably Storm Cat and AP Indy.

That legacy extended into European Pattern racing, where a small but distinguished group achieved elite success. Athyka emerged as a leading ambassador with back-to-back victories in the Prix de l’Opéra, while Bluebook, trained by Sir Henry Cecil, won at Group level. In total, more than 90 of Secretariat’s progeny raced in Europe, with 11 becoming stakes winners.

Amy Zimmerman, a close friend of Penny Chenery and senior vice president and executive producer at Santa Anita Park, is in no doubt of the significance of Secretariat’s influence on the sport.

“He is the reference point by which all other horses are judged,” she says. “It is stunning that so many Eclipse Award winners, Kentucky Derby entrants and Breeders’ Cup runners over the past decade carry the name ‘Secretariat’ somewhere in their pedigrees.”

As the current fourth-generation president of Claiborne Farm, Walker Hancock says that the memories of Secretariat remain vivid within the farm itself.

“It may be known by some, but I don’t think people fully realise just how much he loved attention,” he says. “Secretariat was a complete ham for the camera. The moment someone pulled one out, he would come to life – posing, engaging and soaking it all in.

“He seemed to know he was special and fully embraced it. Everyone around him couldn’t help but love him and be awestruck by his presence. He truly was a rock star.”

That presence, Walker says, carries forward into a responsibility of stewardship.

“There is real pressure to ensure Secretariat is remembered and respected in the way he deserves,” he says. “He is the most famous horse in the history of thoroughbred racing, and we feel a responsibility to make sure his legacy endures.”

A cultural icon: “grown men wept”

On 4 October 1989, Secretariat passed away from complications of laminitis. A necropsy revealed that he possessed an unusually large heart, more than twice the size of a typical thoroughbred’s.

Dr William F Gilsenan, a board-certified equine internal medicine specialist at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, outlines the potential effect of this anomaly.

“It is plausible – if not probable – that there is a hereditary basis for factors such as cardiovascular capacity and heart size,” he explains.

“Assuming normal cardiac function, a larger heart is capable of enhancing an animal’s oxygen-carrying capacity.”

Walker Hancock was born just two months before Secretariat passed, but the colt’s absence nonetheless weighed heavily throughout his formative years.

“Grown men wept long after his passing, and there was a real sense of loss – a void that was hard to fill after losing such a cultural icon,” he recalls.

In the years since, many champions have emerged, and comparison with Secretariat has remained unavoidable. What ultimately distinguishes him from the field is not excellence but permanence: many records fall when conditions align – his times remain insulated by the sheer scale of their margins.

Ron Turcotte captured it simply: “He was the greatest racehorse who ever lived, and I was the luckiest guy in the world to be on his back.”

In assessing Secretariat’s place among the greats, the language of ranking often fails, assuming a scale that shifts with eras and evolution. He instead occupies a fixed position. He is not merely measured against others, he defines the terms by which all others are measured.

Leonard Lusky, a longtime friend and associate of Penny Chenery and Ron Turcotte, frames it this way: “He has transcended his sport to become a timeless cultural phenomenon, for many, a veritable chestnut Elvis.”

For the modern reader and for generations to come, Secretariat’s most enduring achievement lies in the rare convergence of fate, circumstance, skill and spirit. He emerged at a moment when the United States was struggling politically and economically, and the clarity of his brilliance offered something steadier than the era itself.

It was not simply his decisive victories, nor the influence of his progeny, nor even the acclaim that followed. Secretariat instead left behind a standard so explicit and fully documented, and so scarcely realised that it crystallised definitively – the very notion of equine perfection.

Did you know?

• The bright chestnut with three white socks was nicknamed “Big Red”
• Only Derby winner to run each quarter-mile faster than the previous one
• Appeared on the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated in the same week
• In 2025, every Kentucky Derby starter traced their descent to Secretariat
• Equestrian clothing company Ariat is named after Secretariat, whose spirit inspired the brand’s founders
• His first foal was a spotted half-Appaloosa, named First Secretary, after there were question marks over his sperm quality and the stud wanted to test his fertility via a reliable Appaloosa broodmare
• He featured on a 1999 US postage stamp

Secretariat in numbers

76% strike rate

31 lengths – winning margin for his record-breaking Belmont victory

16.2hh – height

$6.08m – his value at syndication

Fact file

Foaled: 30 March 1970, Meadow Farm, Virginia

Sire: Bold Ruler

Dam: Somethingroyal

Breeder: Christopher and Penny Chenery (Meadow Stable)

Owner: Meadow Stable

Trainer: Lucien Laurin

Primary jockey: Ron Turcotte

Groom: Eddie Sweat

Died: 4 October 1989

Cause of death: laminitis

Burial: Claiborne Farm, Kentucky; buried whole (an honour reserved for only a few thoroughbreds)

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When placing your Kentucky Derby bets, would you pick a horse just on its name? A United States study has shown that 25% of Americans would bet $50 or more following a Kentucky Derby hunch, based purely on the name of a horse.

Ahead of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday 7 May 2022, researchers from the legal online gaming platform UScasinos.com surveyed 1,018 Americans to try to find out why specific horses in the 2022 Kentucky Derby were popular, or not. The survey polled people from across the United States covering various age groups with a 50/50 split between men and women.

The study of the US population’s habits around this year’s Kentucky Derby found Call Me Midnight was the most popular horse to back based on its name (10.30%), followed by Happy Jack (9.20%), Dash Attack (7.50%), Forbidden Kingdom (6.10%), Crown Pride (4.90%) and Un Ojo (4.90%). The least favored horses were Barber Road (0.70%), Classic Causeway (0.80%), Shipsational (0.90%), White Abarrio (1.10%), Mo Donegal (1.10%), and Grantham (1.20%).

The most popular horses for Kentucky Derby bets are those whose names are considered to have positive connotations (48.11%) like friendliness, confidence, and dynamism.

According to the survey, Americans betting on instinct are more likely to lay odds on horses whose names they’ve never heard before.

When choosing a horse name on instinct, Americans prefer those relating to something new (21.61%), to some curiosity or historical fact (18.96%), to their lifestyle (12.38%), or those containing something associated with a movie or TV show they have enjoyed (11.98%).

As for the Kentuckians, selecting a horse name because it brings them back some memories of the past is one of the most important reasons when betting on intuition (19.05% of Kentuckians).

By state, Texas, with the most respondents (86), would wager on a total of $2,480, followed by Florida ($1,990), California ($1,670), and Pennsylvania ($1,460).

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Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade your subscription to access our online service that brings you breaking news and reports as well as other benefits.

Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit faces possible disqualification from the world-famous race after allegedly failing a dope test that may have been caused by an anti-fungal cream.

Trainer Bob Baffert told a press conference on Sunday (9 May) that the three-year-old colt (Protonico x Brilliant Speed) had tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone, and repeatedly denied the horse had ever been given the drug.

Betamethasone is a corticosteroid with anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive properties, used for the treatment of dermatological, rheumatic and allergic diseases, and is not permitted to be in a horse’s system on racedays.

“All I can tell you is betamethasone, even though it’s an allowed drug, [a] therapeutic medication, we did not give it. Medina Spirit has never been treated with betamethasone,” he said, adding that the news was “the biggest gut punch in racing for something I didn’t do”.

“It’s disturbing, it’s an injustice to the horse. I don’t know what’s going on in racing right now, but there’s something not right. I don’t feel embarrassed, I feel like I was wronged. We are going to do our own investigation, we are going to be transparent with the [Kentucky Horse] Racing Commission, like we’ve always been.”

Yesterday (11 May), Mr Baffert released a statement via his legal team suggesting that an anti-fungal cream, used to treat dermatitis on the horse’s hind (pictured) “could explain the test results”.

The statement said Mr Baffert was informed by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on 8 May that Medina Spirit “had allegedly tested positive for 21 picograms of betamethasone”.

“[The next day], I held a press conference in which I stated that I intended to thoroughly investigate how this could have happened and that I would be completely transparent throughout the process,” it said.

“I immediately began that investigation, which has resulted in me learning of a possible source for the betamethasone, and now, as promised, I want to be forthright about what I have learned.

“Following the Santa Anita Derby [3 April], Medina Spirit developed dermatitis on his hind end. I had him checked out by my veterinarian who recommended the use of an anti-fungal ointment called Otomax. The veterinary recommendation was to apply this ointment daily to give the horse relief, help heal the dermatitis, and prevent it from spreading. My barn followed this recommendation and Medina Spirit was treated with Otomax once a day up until the day before the Kentucky Derby [1 May]. Yesterday, I was informed that one of the substances in Otomax is betamethasone.”

The statement added that while they “do not know definitively” that this was the source of the “alleged” betamethasone in the horse’s post-race blood sample, Mr Baffer has “been told by equine pharmacology experts that this could explain the test results”.

“As such, I wanted to be forthright about this fact as soon as I learned of this information,” the statement continued.

“As I have stated, my investigation is continuing and we do not know for sure if this ointment was the cause of the test results, or if the test results are even accurate, as they have yet to be confirmed by the split sample.

“However, again, I have been told that a finding of a small amount, such as 21 picograms, could be consistent with application of this type of ointment. I intend to continue to investigate and I will continue to be transparent. In the meantime, I want to reiterate two points I made when this matter initially came to light.

“First, I had no knowledge of how betamethasone could have possibly found its way into Medina Spirit (until now) and this has never been a case of attempting to game the system or get an unfair advantage.

“Second, horse racing must address its regulatory problem when it comes to substances which can innocuously find their way into a horse’s system at the picogram (which is a trillionth of a gram) level. Medina Spirit earned his Kentucky Derby win and my pharmacologists have told me that 21 picograms of betamethasone would have had no effect on the outcome of the race. Medina Spirit is a deserved champion and I will continue to fight for him.”

Churchill Downs has stated that if the positive sample is confirmed, the horse will be disqualified and Mr Baffert will be suspended from entering horses at the course.

“It is our understanding that Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s post-race blood sample indicated a violation of the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s equine medication protocols,” said a statement from Churchill Downs on 9 May.

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“The connections of Medina Spirit have the right to request a test of a split sample and we understand they intend to do so.

“To be clear, if the findings are upheld, Medina Spirit’s results in the Kentucky Derby will be invalidated and Mandaloun will be declared the winner.

“Failure to comply with the rules and medication protocols jeopardises the safety of the horses and jockeys, the integrity of our sport and the reputation of the Kentucky Derby and all who participate. Churchill Downs will not tolerate it.

“Given the seriousness of the alleged offense, Churchill Downs will immediately suspend Bob Baffert, the trainer of Medina Spirit, from entering any horses at Churchill Downs Racetrack.

“We will await the conclusion of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commissions’ investigation before taking further steps.”

Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday, is packed with all the latest news and reports, as well as interviews, specials, nostalgia, vet and training advice. Find how you can enjoy the magazine delivered to your door every week, plus options to upgrade to access our H&H Plus online service which brings you breaking news as it happens as well as other benefits.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

British racing commentator Mark Johnson is set to make history at next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby by becoming the first non-American to call at Churchill Downs.

Mark will also become the first commentator to have called both the Epsom Derby and the Kentucky Derby.

He beat four other commentators to win the Kentucky Derby calling role last autumn at Churchill Downs. He will replace Luke Kruytbosch, who died last summer. Luke had called the race since 1999.

The Lincolnshire-born commentator was later described by the racecourse as “unique, polished and passionate talent with an absolutely infectious personality.”

The 135th Kentucky Derby takes place this Saturday (2 May) at Churchill Downs.

I Want Revenge, trained by Jeff Mullins and to be ridden by Joe Talamo, currently heads the Kentucky Derby odds. The 3-year-old colt is unbeaten since switching from synthetic to a dirt track.

For more information visit: www.kentuckyderby.com/2009

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A horse has died in Kentucky after an accident at Churchill Downs racetrack at the start of Kentucky Derby Week.

Unraced two-year-old filly Raspberry Kiss was put down after she was run into by another horse during an early morning training session on Monday 27 March.

Three-year-old Doctor Rap threw his jockey, Tony Farina, as he jumped out the stalls. The horse then bolted along the stretch at the racecourse.

He then collided with Raspberry Kiss who was standing with a group of horses preparing to exercise in front of several hundred fans.

The filly was sent to Rood and Riddle Equine hospital but was later put down with broken hip.

Her trainer Kenny McPeek later described her as “one of his best two-year-olds”.

Doctor Rap, trained by David Carroll, has not broken any bones but is being tested for possible nerve damage or deep bone bruising at Hagyard Equine Medical Institution in Lexington.

Neither horse was a Derby or Oaks contender but nine Kentucky Derby horses and the favourite for the Kentucky Oaks were on the racecourse preparing for the races next weekend (Friday 1 May and Saturday 2 May) that morning.

Top US trainer Bob Baffert was there watching his Derby contender Pioneer Of The Nile work.

He told US press: “The horse was just barreling down the track and nobody had time to scatter. It was just horrible.”

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American racehorse Big Brown is being retired to stud after suffering a career-ending injury.

The dual-classic winning horse injured his right front foot while at work yesterday (13 October) morning on Aqueduct’s turf track in New York.

He tore off part of his off fore when it caught on his back hoof while running.

The 3-year-old colt was preparing for the £5million Breeders Cup Classic on 25 October at Santa Anita, California, where he was due to go head-to-head with US Horse of the Year Curlin.

Big Brown has won 7 from 8 starts — including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. But he surprised racing followers when, while making his bid to become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978, he trailed in last in the Belmont Stakes in June.

He was found to have a crack in his left front hoof after the race, but he recovered and went on to win the Haskell Invitational and Monmouth Stakes.

The Rick Dutrow-trained racehorse was never intended to race as a 4-year-old and was due to be retired at the end of the month after the Breeders Cup to stand at Three Chimney’s Stud in Kentucky.

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Racehorses trained in Europe will be able to secure a guaranteed place in US race the Kentucky Derby for the first time ever next year.

The Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes at Kempton Park on 18 March 2009 — will guarantee the winner a spot in next year’s Kentucky Derby line-up (2 May 2009) — plus £80,000 winnings.

Previously, places in the Kentucky Derby went to horses with the highest Graded or Group stakes earnings worldwide.

With European race winnings being less than US winnings it meant European horses struggled to gain a slot.

The new race has gained support from some of Britain and Ireland’s top trainers including John Gosden, Dermot Weld, Sir Mark Prescott and Aidan O’Brien.

“I think the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes is a great idea and hopefully we will have runners in it,” said Aidan O’Brien.

While Sir Mark Prescott added: “I think the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes is a splendid idea and if you have got the right horse it provides you with a wonderful chance to go”.

The race is the result of a link between Churchill Downs — the home of the Kentucky Derby — and Kempton Park Racecourse in Middlesex.

Amy Starkey, managing director of Kempton Park Racecourse said: “The Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes is a fantastic opportunity to increase the international profile of Kempton. It will also promote the Kentucky Derby to European-based owners and trainers.”

John Smee, group racing director for Jockey Club Racecourses, added: “The introduction of the Kentucky Derby Challenge Stakes reflects the increasingly global nature of horseracing.

“This is the only chance for owners and trainers to secure a berth in the Kentucky Derby on this side of the Atlantic and provides a great showpiece for Kempton Park’s floodlit all weather track.“

The race is for three-year-olds only and will be over nine furlongs. As well as the £80,000 prize-money, the winner will also receive a bonus of $100,000 if they go on to run in the Kentucky Derby.

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Big Brown took the first US Classic of the season this Saturday (3 May) winning the 134th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky.

The Richard Dutrow jnr-trained three-year-old became the seventh unbeaten horse to win the race and the first horse since 1915 to win it having had just three previous starts.

It was a first Derby win for Mr Dutrow jnr and a third for jockey Kent Desormeaux — who won on Real Quiet in 1998 and Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000.

Having won the first leg of the US Triple Crown connections are now looking towards the second leg — the Preakness Stakes held in Maryland in two weeks time.

Mr Desormeaux said of Big Brown: “Talent-wise, he is the best horse I’ve ever ridden.”

The 24-10 favourite won by nearly five lengths ahead of the lone filly in the race, the Larry Jones-trained Eight Belles, who sadly fatally fractured both of her fore ankles pulling up on the turn. The stable had been hoping to record a double as only the day before her stablemate Proud Spell took the Kentucky Oaks.

In third was Denis of Cork, trained by David M Carroll and Tale of Ekati was fourth. All 20 ran.

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The 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro is to be buried at Churchill Downs racecourse in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of his most memorable victory.

The racehorse won the Kentucky Derby — America’s most famous race — by an impressive six and a half lengths.

Four-year-old Barbaro was put to sleep on 29 January 2007 after complications from an injury sustained two weeks after his Derby win.

In May 2006 Barbaro shattered his right hind leg in the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the American Triple Crown, which marked the end of his racing career.

Despite attempts to save the colt by surgeons at the New Bolton Centre, Pennsylvania, complications including laminitis in both his front and hind legs over the next eight months led to Barbaro’s death.

His victory gained him fans all over the world and the public were devastated by his death.

According to US website thehorse.com owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson feel that Churchill Downs is the best place to honour Barbaro.

Barbaro’s ashes will be buried outside one of the entrance gates in a large elevated space enclosed by bricks. The memorial site will also include a bronze statue commissioned by the Jacksons and loaned to the track.

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Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro was put down yesterday (29 January), eight months after breaking his left hind leg in the Preakness Stakes.

The colt had undergone operations to repair multiple fractures and treat complications such as laminitis and absesses. He was put down as a result of a deep bruise in his right hind foot and laminitis in both front legs.

Barbaro struck a chord with the American public after winning the Kentucky Derby by 6 1/2 lengths, the largest margin since 1946. When he subsequently broke down soon after leaving the stalls in the Preakness Stakes, hundreds of cards and flowers were sent to the New Bolton Veterinary Center where he remained up until his death. “We will remember Barbaro as a beautiful, magnificent, and brave horse,” said a spokesperson for the New Bolton Center.

Dr. Dean Richardson, chief of surgery at the New Bolton Center, who has been treating Barbaro for the last eight months assures that he was happy for the majority of time and was “comfortable, and alert,” when the final anaesthetic was administered.

“Barbaro’s gallant fight to triumph over his injury and his laminitis has ended,” said the spokesperson. “The decision was made by considering what was best for him as a patient.”

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