Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby 2022: Horse racing returns to Louisville. The winner can't be doping.

They have worked with those of us in animal protection to improve the welfare of the horses and the industry itself, and the bettors that keep the sports’ coffers full have been increasingly attracted to other gambling options. Beating a horse around the track with a riding crop is not a visual that younger generations of Americans are likely to tolerate. This year’s Kentucky Derby has seen a host of reforms that, coupled with new national legislation, might just salvage the sport. The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act that my organization lobbied to enact establishes a national anti-doping program with one set of standards, rules and regulations at every Thoroughbred racetrack in America, much-needed since the current balkanized system has failed. And along with the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Churchill Downs last year suspended notorious trainer Bob Baffert, the sport’s longtime “golden boy” and best-recognized figure, preventing him from running horses this year as a result of Medina Spirit’s failed Derby drug test in 2021. However much interest and enthusiasm the running of the 148th Kentucky Derby in Louisville kicks up on Saturday, it won’t matter if the sport doesn’t clean up its act.

The Kentucky Derby returns for a 149th edition with Churchill Downs in Louisville again ready to host the United States' most famous horse race.

- Mandaloun - Keepmeinmind The decision is subject to an appeal.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Twenty eager colts breaking from the starting gate, a full house for the first time in three years, and a Kentucky Derby lacking a ...

Here is everything you need to know about the 2022 Kentucky Derby, including the post time and how to watch the event.

30-1 NBC will broadcast the 2022 Kentucky Derby and provide analysis both before and after the race. One of the early favorites, Taiba, suffered a hit from the post draw with the dreaded No. 12, which has underperformed historically.

Steve Buttleman doesn't just turn up once a year to blow his horn before the fastest two minutes in sports. Oh, no. This is a full-time gig.

Buttleman plays for hundreds of people or a hundred thousand, depending on the track day, and to listeners it’s as much a part of the process as the bourbon. But critics see something different: a move by wealthy and politically connected horsemen to strengthen their hold on the industry. It’s a role he never imagined when he took up trumpet in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in fifth grade, when he got a trumpet for Christmas in eighth grade, when he matriculated to the University of Louisville to study music, when he gave up music for a spell and worked in hospitals, when he met his wife at that work in 1989 and went to dinner and married that same year (they were sure), and when he learned Churchill Downs sought a bugler in 1995, auditioned among eight, auditioned among two, got the job and felt floored. It’s out inside the two tracks (dirt and turf), in a white pagoda with windows that allow for gazing onto the Twin Spires. It’s a job in which you meet a slew of people and play in front of slews more. “You could play a thousand notes right, and the one you’d remember is the one [you missed] . . . I’d say there are things, like little, teeny sounds that I pick up that most people don’t, that I don’t feel like it’s as clean as I want it. A beginner’s guide to betting on horse racing: Horse racing can be intimidating to newcomers. But most people don’t hear it.” He hears it, and every so often he upbraids himself: “ ‘Really, after 27 years, you can’t play this right?’ You know, there are times when I’m practicing or warming up and I’m like, ‘Really?’ But I guess we all have days like that.” “I did ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ and the ‘Call to the Post’ from up in one of the bucket trucks. Keep things forward in the mouth.’ And that way, the air and the tongue work better.” He waits at a desk in the fine little structure, his Derby outfit hanging on a wall in a garment bag of the local shop British Custom Tailors, amid photos of Kentucky kids who revel in his work, of Buttleman pretending to blow his horn into Bill Murray’s ear (Murray’s photo concept), of Brett Favre in pajamas with Buttleman while filming a commercial in which Buttleman was supposed to awaken Favre. It’s one of the rarer full-time jobs you can have, and in Buttleman’s case, for the past 27 years, it has been one with one rare office view. And then, to note the gamut: “One of the trade shows I did the last few weeks was for electrical contractors, and I played up in one of the bucket trucks,” those people holders often seen up poles or up near wires.

The 148th edition of the Kentucky Derby is set to take place on Saturday as the iconic race looks to move on from last year's controversy.

Justify -- trained by Baffert -- was the last horse to win all three races back in 2018. Dubbed the "Greatest Two Minutes in Sports" -- a nod to its approximate run time -- the Derby is the first race in US horse racing's coveted Triple Crown in December, arguably continues to overshadow the spectacle which was first held back in 1875, but the Derby is keen to leave the controversy in the past.

Here is all the information you need to know to watch the 2022 Kentucky Derby, including post time, TV channel and horses.

30-1 30-1 There are also streaming options for those who have cut the cord on cable.

The first Saturday in May has arrived, which means it's time for the 2022 Kentucky Derby! Here's what's happening at Churchill Downs.

Still, if rain does fall, be sure to check out our list of the best mudders in the Kentucky Derby field before placing your bets. Running out of the No. 3 position, Epicenter is the second choice in the morning line at 7-2 and will look to end trainer Steve Asmussen's 0-for-23 Derby drought. The Kentucky-bred horse is trained by Chad Brown, who is looking for his first Derby win, and will be ridden by jockey Flavien Prat, who won the 2019 Derby aboard Country House.

This really shapes the 2022 race. The exclusion of Baffert opens up the field and truly makes it anyone's race. It's no so much that Baffert-trained horses won ...

- Cyberknife (20-1) This really shapes the 2022 race. The 2022 Kentucky Derby is around the corner, and with it the beginning of the Triple Crown. It will be an attempt to return to normality, not just from the Covid pandemic, but controversy after Medina Spirit, the winner of the 2021 Derby, was disqualified due a positive test for betamethasone.

The longest shot in the field at 80-1, Rich Strike came from behind to overtake favorties Zandon and Epicenter to win the prestigious race, giving trainer Eric ...

Rich Strike had the second-biggest upset in the race’s 148-year history. Only Donerail in 1913 had a higher payout of $184.90. Jockey Sonny Leon guided Rich Strike from far back in the 20-horse field to beat 4-1 favorite Epicenter by three-quarters of a length.

See the most colorful headwear at the 2022 Kentucky Derby, including floral fascinators and sensational sun hats.

Roses have been associated with the Derby since 1896, when the winning horse, Ben Brush, was awarded a garland of pink and white roses. Today, there is no official dress code at Churchill Downs, although spectators at the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby hardly need reminding that they are as much on parade as the thoroughbreds in the paddock. The tradition of wearing fanciful millinery with colorful dresses and suits dates back to the origins of the Kentucky Derby itself.

Rich Strike only gained entry into the field of one of the world's most prestigious races after a late scratching. Then he won.

Only Donerail in 1913 had a higher payout of $184.90 but that was an eight-horse race, making Rich Strike’s victory all the more impressive. “We found out about 30 seconds before the deadline on Friday,” owner Rick Dawson said. The colt lost to Zandon in the Blue Grass Stakes last month and was beaten by Epicenter in the Louisiana Derby in March. Rich Strike was purchased by Dawson, who races as RED TR-Racing LLC, for $30,000 last fall when the colt was entered in a low-level claiming race by former owner Calumet Farm. Rich Strike wasn’t even in the Derby field until Friday when Ethereal Road was scratched, making room for the colt trained by Eric Reed. Both Leon and Reed were in their first Derby. Rich Strike, a horse only included in the race due to a late scratching, came charging up the rail to overtake the leaders in the closing strides for a stunning upset in the Kentucky Derby.

Rich Strike overcame the longest odds on the board to beat out race favorite Epicenter for a stunning victory in the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby.

Chad Brown, considered the best turf trainer in the country, was bringing morning line favorite Zandon to the race. The horse was lucky to even be in the race. Perhaps one of the most intriguing was Taiba, a horse that had run only twice. In fact, Asmussen is the sport’s all-time leading trainer for wins. Then surging on the inside came the little-known and respected colt Rich Strike, who blew past them to win by three-quarters of a length. The race started with Summer Is Tomorrow and Crown Pride going to the front with blistering fractions of 21.48 seconds for the first quarter and 45.36 for the half.

'I'm in shock': 250-1 outsider stuns in second biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history.

“We just knew that we had a shot because every time he went longer he got better. The colt, trained by Eric Reed and ridden by Sonny Leon, gained a place in the field when Ethereal Road was scratched. Rich Strike, an 80-1 longshot who only got into the field on Friday, pulled off a stunning upset victory in the 148th Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

Outsider Rich Strike has stormed to victory in the Kentucky Derby in Louisville in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the race.

"We just knew we had a shot, because every time he went longer (in distance), he got better. A jubilant Leon said: "Well I'm feeling really happy, you don't know how excited I feel. This is why everyone does this - we're not supposed to be here, but I knew this horse loved the track and he'd been training so good all year," he told NBC Sports.

The Sporting News tracked live race updates and highlights for the 2022 Kentucky Derby. Follow along for complete results from Saturday's race.

According to Blood Horse, Rich Strike was claimed by Reed for $30,000 after winning a race at Churchill Downs in September. Sonny Leon was Rich Strike's jockey during the race. I'm so happy," trainer Eric Reed told NBC Sports after the race. 7:08 p.m.: The unofficial top four: Rich Strike, Epicenter, Zandon and Simplification. Rich Strike was at 80-1 odds to win the Kentucky Derby. According to the Pekin Daily Times, Rich Strike had the second-longest odds of any horse to win the Kentucky Derby at 80-1, behind only Donerail in 1913 at 91-1 odds. Reed had never had a horse in the Kentucky Derby prior to this race. Rich Strike was not even supposed to be in the 2022 Kentucky Derby. Ethereal Road was set to start in the No. 20 post, rounding out the field of horses in the race.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- With favorite Epicenter and Zandon dueling in front, Rich Strike came charging up the rail in the closing strides for a stunning 80-1 ...

"People I hadn't seen, people I haven't talked to in years, my best friends were there in the morning to pick me up," Reed recalled. Reed typed, "I think our horse is cool and ready to run." "And so anybody that's in this business, lightening can strike." Last year's winner, Medina Spirit, was disqualified after nine months, having failed a postrace drug test that led to six-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert being banned from Churchill Downs for two years. "We found out about 30 seconds before the deadline on Friday," Rich Strike owner Rick Dawson said. Leon eventually guided his mount between horses and to the inside rail. Rich Strike made a deft move around Messier in the stretch and went right back to the rail intent on picking off Epicenter and Zandon. But he matched wits with such veteran riders as Joel Rosario, aboard Epicenter, and Mike Smith, aboard Messier. "I about passed out.'' "When I was in the last 70 yards, I said, 'I think I got this race,'" Leon said. "I can't believe it after Epicenter's effort," said losing trainer Steve Asmussen, who fell to 0-for-24 in the Derby. "I got beat by the horse that just got in." With 4-1 favorite Epicenter and Zandon engaged in a duel at the front, Rich Strike stole the show with the second-biggest upset in the Derby's 148-year history.