LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY — The 152nd Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, 2026, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, with post time set for approximately 6:57 p.m. ET. The race, also known as the Run for the Roses, will feature a field of 20 three-year-old horses competing over a distance of 1 1/4 miles.

The Kentucky Derby has been contested almost annually without interruption since 10 years after the end of the U.S. Civil War, and has been held on the first Saturday in May for almost a century.

Renegade, owned by Mike Repole, is the morning-line favorite. The colt will attempt to become the first horse since Ferdinand in 1986 to win the Kentucky Derby from the No. 1 post position. Sovereignty won the 151st Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2025, at Churchill Downs, with Junior Alvarado aboard. Journalism finished second in that race. In the 2024 edition, Fierceness finished 15th as the favorite. Past winners include Smarty Jones in 2004, American Pharoah in 2015, and Justify in 2018.

NBC and Peacock hold the broadcasting rights for the 2026 Kentucky Derby. FanDuel TV will broadcast coverage from 10:30 a.m. to noon ET on Derby day, followed by undercard racing coverage on Peacock and NBCSN from noon to 2:30 p.m. ET. The main broadcast will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET and run through 7:30 p.m. ET on both NBC and Peacock, with a final race airing on FanDuel TV at 7:30 p.m. ET. For the first time, NBC will broadcast the Kentucky Oaks in primetime Friday, May 1, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. The Kentucky Oaks showcases the best three-year-old fillies in thoroughbred racing.

An ad-supported Peacock subscription is available for $10.99 a month, while an ad-free subscription is $16.99 a month and includes live access to a local NBC affiliate and offline downloads. Platforms including FuboTV, YouTube TV, and Hulu with Live TV carry NBC and offer live streaming of the Derby. The TwinSpires app will offer streaming of the race, and the radio broadcast is available via NBC Sports Audio on Sirius XM.

The National Weather Service in Louisville predicts a high near 56°F and a low around 38°F on May 2, 2026, with temperatures expected to drop by post time. NWS meteorologist Mark Jarvis said low temperatures could cause frost to form, a rare event in Kentucky after May 1. Louisville reached a high of 65°F on Derby day in 2025 and 83°F on Derby day in 2024.

Bettors can wager on the race at racebooks including FanDuel Racing. An exacta bet requires correctly predicting the first and second-place finishers in exact order, while an exacta box bet requires predicting them in any order and doubles the wager. A trifecta bet requires predicting the top three finishers in exact order, and a superfecta requires predicting the first four in exact order. Horizontal wagers such as Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6 require correctly predicting winners of consecutive races, and pools for those wagers can reach large amounts on big race days.