The best of 2023 Kentucky Derby hat showcase in images
Hats are almost as big a part of the Kentucky Derby as horses
Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Hats are almost as big a part of the Kentucky Derby as horses
The iconic Secretariat’s win in the Kentucky Derby is having a 50th anniversary
#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes will call “Riders Up!” at the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 6.
The reigning league MVP, Super Bowl LVII champion and Super Bowl MVP will get the honor of calling “Riders up!” at this year’s Kentucky Derby in Louisville.
The Kentucky Derby announced on Wednesday that Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes would do the honors of calling the riders to ready for the 149th Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 6. Mahomes has been very much in the public eye recently with an appearance at the Met Gala just days ago. Now, after an impressive 2022 campaign with the Chiefs, he gets a chance to become a part of horse racing history.
.@Chiefs MVP @PatrickMahomes will call Riders Up for the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Paralympian gold medalist and Louisville Native Oksana Masters will call for Riders Up for the Oaks on Friday. pic.twitter.com/PXbBvIXOoI
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 3, 2023
Forte is the betting favorite in the 149th Kentucky Derby race and you can find out more about the entire draw here. The 20-horse field’s post time is currently scheduled for 6:57 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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What will Patrick Mahomes call Saturday at the Kentucky Derby?
The Super Bowl MVP will be busy Saturday at the Kentucky Derby.
Patrick Mahomes has been asked to give the Riders Up call for the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Given his success on the football field, we’re sure it will be a perfect call.
.@Chiefs MVP @PatrickMahomes will call Riders Up for the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
Paralympian gold medalist and Louisville Native Oksana Masters will call for Riders Up for the Oaks on Friday. pic.twitter.com/PXbBvIXOoI
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 3, 2023
Kentucky Derby-winning horse Rich Strike made his pick for the #Chiefs vs. #Eagles Super Bowl LVII matchup.
With Super Bowl LVII less than 48 hours away, everyone is locking in the predictions for the matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. When I say everyone, I mean everyone, including some creatures of the four-legged variety.
The 2022 Kentucky Derby winner, Rich Strike, got to play the role of handicapper this time around and made his pick for the big game. He had to choose between feed buckets to make his prediction. One bucket had the Eagles logo, the other had the Chiefs logo. He picked the Kansas City bucket declaring them the winners of Super Bowl LVII.
Check out the video of his pick down below:
From one Champion to another… #SuperBowl #Chiefs 🏇🏽 pic.twitter.com/UPa0hgakK0
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) February 11, 2023
The 4-year-old colt had 80-1 odds to win the Kentucky Derby in 2022. Along with jockey Sonny Leon, Rich Strike defied those odds in a big way. The Chiefs are still betting underdogs heading into Super Bowl LVII with the Eagles being favored by 1.5 points. With this prediction from Rich Strike, it would seem that underdogs stick together.
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In 1973, Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths to capture the Triple Crown
Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike is back in the field, but not the early favorite
The final jewel of the Triple Crown is up for grabs this Saturday at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York as horse racing turns its attention to the 2022 Belmont Stakes.
After skipping the Preakness Stakes to prepare for the annual June event, Kentucky Derby-winner Rich Strike is back in the field and one of the favorites to win the 1.5 mile dirt race at 7-2.
It’s been a wild season for the former 80-1 longshot who stunned the world at Churchill Downs. Now he’ll get to face off against some familiar names. Though just eight horses were entered into Tuesday’s post position draw, the experience among them is nothing to take lightly.
We The People opens on the rail as the odds-on favorite at 2-1.
Barber Road and Mo Donegal will get a long-awaited rematch with Rich Strike following their battle at the Kentucky Derby. Preakness entrants Creative Minister and Skippylongstocking will try to improve on their respective third- and fifth-place finishes.
Early Voting, who won last month’s Preakness Stakes, has opted to skip the Belmont Stakes in order to prepare for the Travers Stakes in August.
Here’s a look at the post position draw and morning line odds for the 154th running of the Belmont Stakes.
While the story may seem funny now, Lucky Strike went off at 80-1, making it one of the most improbable winners in the history of the event.
PGA Tour pro Jhonattan Vegas has lived in Texas for years, playing his college golf at the University of Texas under legendary coach John Fields.
But the 37-year-old’s Venezuelan roots run deep. Vegas was born and raised in the inland city of Maturín. He learned the game on a makeshift nine-hole course built for employees of the oil company for whom his father worked. He won the country’s Junior and Amateur titles and showed enough promise to compete in the World Junior Golf Championships in San Diego, tying for sixth at Torrey Pines.
Vegas also became the first player from his country to compete in the Presidents Cup, and in 2021 he was the country’s golf representative in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where he finished 16th.
So when he sees something that reminds him of home, as he did during the recent Kentucky Derby, Vegas is quick to take notice.
Memorial: PGA Tour streaming on ESPN+
When Vegas was coming off the course at TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm as part of the Wells Fargo Championship, he watched the opening to the Derby and noticed that jockey Sonny Leon was riding Lucky Strike. Leon is a native of Aragua, Venezuela, and Vegas’ first inclination was to wager on his countryman.
“It was funny,” Vegas said on Thursday after his round at The Memorial. “We were in D.C. And I finished my Saturday round and I’m sitting around waiting for the Kentucky Derby. I see it’s a Venezuelan jockey. There’s usually one or two. There’s a Venezuela jockey — let’s bet $500 on it, right? It’s Venezuelan.
“I thought my friend would have a way to bet online, but he didn’t. Just purely … we didn’t know the odds were that big when the guy won. It was a funny story. Incredible.”
While the story may seem funny now, Lucky Strike went off at 80-1, making it one of the most improbable winners in the history of the storied event.
That means Vegas would have pocketed $40,000 had he found a way to place the bet.
“That would have been good,” Vegas said with a laugh on Thursday.
All was not lost that week, however. Through some chilly, windy weather Vegas stayed strong during the final two rounds and finished the event at 1 under, which was good enough to tie for 15th place.
His paycheck for the four-day event was $141,750.
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Rich Strike’s quest for the Triple Crown is over
The 2022 horse racing season will not see a Triple Crown winner.
After a stunning victory in the Kentucky Derby, Rich Strike will not run in the Preakness Stakes on May 21 and instead prepare for the Belmont Stakes on June 11, owner Rick Dawson and trainer Eric Reed announced.
The colt was an extremely late entry into the Kentucky Derby field, drawing in on Friday after a scratch opened up a spot in the field. That saw the three-year-old’s odds languish at 80-to-1 before pulling off the second-largest upset in Derby history.
Rich Strike becomes just the third horse to win the Kentucky Derby and skip the Preakness since 1996. Justify in 2018 remains the last horse to win the Triple Crown.
Full statement, no Preakness for Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike: pic.twitter.com/TEEnWq41oS
— Morgan Adsit (@MorganAdsit) May 12, 2022
Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike will NOT run in the Preakness Stakes, per his owner, Rick Dawson. Story to come. " we are going to stay with our plan of what's best for Ritchie is what's best for our group, and pass on running in the Preakness, and point toward the Belmont." pic.twitter.com/ezjxz2pZC9
— Eric Crawford (@ericcrawford) May 12, 2022
Over the last 30 years, Derby champions who won with odds of 10-to-1 or longer have won the Preakness four times (I’ll Have Another in 2012, Funny Cide in 2003, War Emblem in 2002 and Charismatic in 1999). In 2019, Country House won the Kentucky Derby at 65.2-to-1 odds before skipping the Preakness after contracting a virus.
Here's how every horse who won the Derby at odds of > 10-1 fared in the Preakness over the last 30 years. Notably, the 5 longest shots to win at Churchill all finished in the top 3 at Pimlico — with one (Charismatic in '99) winning it: pic.twitter.com/6CO8TXCOtL
— Steve Kornacki (@SteveKornacki) May 9, 2022
Mandaloun, which was deemed winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby following the disqualification on Medina Spirit, also skipped the Preakness.
The remainder of the 2022 Preakness field has yet to be announced.
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What a legendary call of a historic finish. RICH STRIKE!!!!!!!!!!
By now we all know that Rich Strike won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday as an 80-1 underdog. It was the stunner of all stunners yesterday at Churchill Downs pulled off by a horse that wasn’t even in the race until being a late addition on Friday.
It was an absolutely incredible run down the stretch that nobody will forget for quite some time.
You know what else was incredible? Larry Collmus’ call on NBC of the final stretch of the race. The longtime announcer absolutely nailed the call of the dramatic ending and I can’t stop watching it a day later.
Sit back and enjoy this:
The overhead view makes Rich Strike's comeback for the upset @KentuckyDerby win look even more incredible. 😮 #KyDerby | @ChurchillDowns pic.twitter.com/iDfkGVZS0O
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 8, 2022
His RICH STRIKE!!!! gives me goosebumps every time.
Thank you! https://t.co/23GaWS3vYV
— Larry Collmus (@larrycollmus) May 8, 2022
Twitter loved it, too.