The Kentucky Derby 2026 results are in and they made history at Churchill Downs. Golden Tempo charged from last place to win the 152nd Run for the Roses by a nose at 23-1 odds in 2:02.27.
His trainer Cherie DeVaux became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner in the race’s 152-year history. Jockey Jose Ortiz had to run down his own older brother Irad Ortiz Jr. on runner-up Renegade in the final strides to claim the trophy.
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Kentucky Derby 2026 Quick Facts and Race Details
- Winner: Golden Tempo
- Winning Time: 2:02.27
- Margin of Victory: By a nose
- Winning Jockey: Jose Ortiz
- Winning Trainer: Cherie DeVaux (first female trainer in Derby history)
- Winning Owners: Phipps Stable & St. Elias Stable (homebred)
- Final Odds: 23-1
- Sire / Dam: Curlin / Carrumba (by Bernardini)
- Race: 152nd Kentucky Derby (Grade 1)
- Date: Saturday, May 2, 2026
- Track: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky
- Distance: 1 1/4 miles (10 furlongs)
- Surface: Dirt (fast)
- Track Conditions: Fast, dry, high near 56°F
- Purse: $5,000,000
- Winner’s Share: $3,100,000
- Field Size: 18 starters
- Attendance: 150,000+ (estimated)
- Defending Champion: Sovereignty (2025)
- How to Watch (Replay): NBC, Peacock
Kentucky Derby 2026 Full Finishing Order
The full top 18 finishing order from the 152nd Kentucky Derby with post numbers and final closing odds:
| Finish | Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Final Odds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 19 | Golden Tempo | Jose Ortiz | Cherie DeVaux | 23-1 |
| 2nd | 1 | Renegade | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Todd Pletcher | 6-1 |
| 3rd | 22 | Ocelli | Joseph Ramos | Whit Beckman | 75-1 |
| 4th | 12 | Chief Wallabee | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | 7-1 |
| 5th | 7 | Danon Bourbon | Atsuya Nishimura | Manabu Ikezoe | 14-1 |
| 6th | 11 | Incredibolt | Jaime Torres | Riley Mott | 27-1 |
| 7th | 6 | Commandment | Luis Saez | Brad Cox | 5-1 |
| 8th | 10 | Wonder Dean | Ryusei Sakai | Daisuke Takayanagi | 26-1 |
| 9th | 8 | So Happy | Mike Smith | Mark Glatt | 5-1 |
| 10th | 15 | Emerging Market | Flavien Prat | Chad Brown | 8-1 |
| 11th | 18 | Further Ado | John Velazquez | Brad Cox | 6-1 |
| 12th | 14 | Potente | Juan Hernandez | Bob Baffert | 17-1 |
| 13th | 17 | Six Speed | Brian Hernandez Jr. | Bhupat Seemar | 39-1 |
| 14th | 23 | Robusta | Cristian Torres | Doug O’Neill | 73-1 |
| 15th | 2 | Albus | Manny Franco | Riley Mott | 47-1 |
| 16th | 3 | Intrepido | Hector Berrios | Jeff Mullins | 51-1 |
| 17th | 4 | Litmus Test | Martin Garcia | Bob Baffert | 27-1 |
| 18th | 16 | Pavlovian | Edwin Maldonado | Doug O’Neill | 51-1 |
Pre-race scratches: Silent Tactic (foot injury April 29), Fulleffort (ankle April 30), The Puma (swollen pastern Saturday morning), Right To Party (lameness) and Corona De Oro. Great White scratched at the gate after he reared up and threw jockey Alex Achard before the start.
Kentucky Derby 2026 Payouts: Win, Place, Show and Exotics
The biggest story from the betting windows came from a single combination. The $1 superfecta paid $94,489.95 thanks to Ocelli’s 75-1 longshot finish in third. That figure dwarfs last year’s superfecta payout of $1,682.27. For the full purse breakdown across all paid positions see the Kentucky Derby 2026 payout guide.
| Wager | Combination | Payout |
|---|---|---|
| Win ($2) | Golden Tempo | $48.24 |
| Place ($2) | Golden Tempo | $19.14 |
| Show ($2) | Golden Tempo | $11.90 |
| Place ($2) | Renegade | $7.14 |
| Show ($2) | Renegade | $5.45 |
| Show ($2) | Ocelli | $36.34 |
| Exacta ($2) | 19-1 | $278.86 |
| Trifecta ($0.50) | 19-1-22 | $5,625.39 |
| Superfecta ($1) | 19-1-22-12 | $94,489.95 |
| Daily Double ($1) | 6-19 | $94.83 |
Kentucky Derby 2026 Race Recap: How Golden Tempo Won
Golden Tempo did what almost no Derby horse pulls off. He ran dead last for most of the race and still found a way to win.
Six Speed broke fast under Brian Hernandez Jr. and grabbed the early lead. The Dubai shipper controlled the pace through the opening fractions while Golden Tempo settled at the back of the 18 horse field. The pack tightened into the far turn. Six Speed began to fade as the field hit the top of the stretch. Renegade surged from the rail and looked like the winner with a furlong to go.
Then Jose Ortiz made his move. He angled Golden Tempo to the outside and found a clear path through traffic. The Curlin colt picked off horses one by one. At the wire he caught Renegade by a nose. The crowd went silent for a beat then roared as the result flashed on the board.
The post race storyline carried real emotional weight. Jose Ortiz beat his older brother Irad Ortiz Jr. to win his first Kentucky Derby in 11 tries. The two Puerto Rico born siblings have ridden side by side in the New York jockey colony since 2012. They rarely finish this close in races of this size. Ortiz also became just the ninth jockey in history to win the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in the same year. He took the Oaks on Friday aboard Always a Runner for trainer Chad Brown.
Jose addressed the family rivalry on the NBC broadcast right after the race. “I want him to win the Derby of course. I know it’s his dream as well. But it happened that way. I think he should be happy. His horse run a very good race. But you know it was my year and today is my day just Golden Tempo’s day.”
Renegade had been the morning line favorite at 4-1. He closed at 6-1 after Commandment and So Happy took late favoritism at 5-1 each. The Arkansas Derby winner ran a strong race from post 1 but ran out of room. The result extended trainer Todd Pletcher’s drought. Pletcher saddled his 66th career Derby starter, the most by any trainer in race history. He still has only two Derby wins, his last coming with Always Dreaming in 2017.
Ocelli completed the trifecta in third for trainer Whit Beckman at 75-1. He only drew into the field after Fulleffort scratched on April 30. Bill Mott’s Chief Wallabee finished fourth under last year’s winning jockey Junior Alvarado. The result denied Mott a chance at back to back Derby wins after his 2025 victory with Sovereignty.
Japanese invader Danon Bourbon ran fifth and posted the second best Kentucky Derby finish ever by a Japan based horse, trailing only Forever Young’s third place run in 2024. The pre race favorites mostly disappointed. Commandment finished seventh, So Happy ninth and Further Ado eleventh. Pavlovian, who many expected to press the early pace, finished last in 18th.
Cherie DeVaux looked stunned in the winner’s circle. She told NBC, “I don’t even have any words right now. I just can’t. Jose did a masterful job at getting him there. He was so far out of it.” She added that representing women everywhere meant the world. “I’m just glad that I could be a representative of all women everywhere that we can do anything we set our minds to.”
DeVaux’s path to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle started in Saratoga Springs, New York. She trained under Chuck Simon and then Chad Brown before opening her own stable in 2018. Only 17 women had ever sent a horse to the Kentucky Derby starting gate before Saturday. None had ever won. The previous best result by a female trainer came from Shelley Riley, who finished second with Casual Lies in 1992. DeVaux is now also the second woman to win any Triple Crown race after Jena Antonucci took the 2023 Belmont Stakes with Arcangelo.
Golden Tempo’s victory broke another long streak. His sire Curlin, a two time Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008, had sired three Kentucky Derby runners up before Saturday. Exaggerator, Good Magic and Journalism all finished second under his banner. Golden Tempo gave Curlin his first Derby winner as a sire. The post 1 curse also held for the 40th straight year since Ferdinand’s 1986 victory from the rail. The favorite has now lost the Kentucky Derby for eight straight years going back to Justify’s win in 2018.
Pace fractions and the official chart will be added once Churchill Downs releases the full data. The Kentucky Derby 2026 results stand as one of the most memorable in modern Run for the Roses history thanks to DeVaux’s barrier breaking win and the dramatic Ortiz brothers finish.
Also Check: Kentucky Derby Winners List (2000-2026)
Kentucky Derby 2026 Storylines and Historic Context
- Longshot trend continues. Five of the last eight Derby winners have gone off at 15-1 or longer: Country House (65-1, 2019), Rich Strike (80-1, 2022), Mage (15-1, 2023), Mystik Dan (18-1, 2024) and Golden Tempo (23-1, 2026).
- Jose Ortiz pulls off the Oaks-Derby double. Ortiz became the ninth jockey in history to win both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in the same year. He won the Oaks Friday with Always a Runner before taking the Derby on Golden Tempo.
- Pletcher remains stuck on two. Todd Pletcher saddled his 66th career Derby starter, by far the most in race history. Renegade’s runner up finish extended his drought since 2017’s Always Dreaming win.
- Baffert misses out on seventh. Bob Baffert went into the race with six official Derby wins. Neither of his two starters (Potente, Litmus Test) finished in the top 10.
- Riley Mott’s Derby debut. Bill Mott’s son Riley Mott sent out Albus and Incredibolt in his first Derby as a trainer.
2026 Kentucky Derby Results FAQ
Who won the 2026 Kentucky Derby?
Golden Tempo won the 2026 Kentucky Derby at 23-1 odds, ridden by Jose Ortiz and trained by Cherie DeVaux. Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable own the Curlin colt.
Who is the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby?
Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby when Golden Tempo crossed the wire first on May 2, 2026. Prior to Saturday only 17 female trainers had ever sent a horse to the Derby starting gate in the race’s 151 year history and none had won. The closest a female trainer had come was Shelley Riley’s runner up finish with Casual Lies in 1992. DeVaux, 44, launched her own training operation in 2018 after years working as an assistant trainer. She is also the second female trainer ever to win a Triple Crown race after Jena Antonucci won the 2023 Belmont Stakes with Arcangelo.
What was the winning time of the 2026 Kentucky Derby?
Golden Tempo’s official winning time was 2:02.27 for the 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Derby track record is 1:59.40 set by Secretariat in 1973.
What were the 2026 Kentucky Derby payouts?
The official $2 win/place/show payouts were Golden Tempo $48.24/$19.14/$11.90, Renegade $7.14/$5.45 (place/show) and Ocelli $36.34 (show). The $2 exacta (19-1) paid $278.86, the $0.50 trifecta (19-1-22) paid $5,625.39 and the $1 superfecta (19-1-22-12) paid a massive $94,489.95 thanks to Ocelli’s 75-1 longshot third place finish.
How much money did Golden Tempo earn?
The winning ownership group of Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable receives $3.1 million from the $5 million total purse. Trainer Cherie DeVaux earns approximately $310,000 (10 percent), and jockey Jose Ortiz earns $310,000 before agent and valet deductions.
Are Jose Ortiz and Irad Ortiz Jr. brothers?
Yes. Jose Ortiz, who rode 2026 Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, is the younger brother of Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode runner up Renegade. Both Puerto Rico born siblings have ridden professionally on the New York circuit since 2012 and are among the most successful jockeys in the sport. The 2026 Derby was Jose Ortiz’s first Derby win in 11 attempts.
How many horses ran in the 2026 Kentucky Derby?
The 152nd Kentucky Derby drew 20 entries originally but only 18 horses started after multiple scratches: Silent Tactic (foot injury April 29), Fulleffort (ankle April 30), The Puma (Saturday morning), Right To Party and Corona De Oro all scratched in the days leading up to the race. Great White was a late gate scratch when he bucked and threw jockey Alex Achard before the start.
What channel showed the 2026 Kentucky Derby?
NBC carried the main race day broadcast from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 2, 2026. Streaming options included Peacock and FuboTV. For full broadcast details and replay options see our how to watch Kentucky Derby 2026 guide.
Did a longshot win the 2026 Kentucky Derby?
Yes. Golden Tempo won at 23-1, continuing a strong recent trend of longshot Derby winners. Five of the last eight Kentucky Derby winners have gone off at 15-1 or longer: Country House (65-1, 2019), Rich Strike (80-1, 2022), Mage (15-1, 2023), Mystik Dan (18-1, 2024) and now Golden Tempo (23-1, 2026). Golden Tempo’s win also marks the eighth straight year that the Kentucky Derby favorite has failed to win the race; the last winning favorite was Justify in 2018.
