This weekend brings the first Saturday in May.

Which means it is time for one of the biggest events on the annual sports calendar: the Kentucky Derby.

This year’s field includes a horse on a commanding winning streak, and a favorite that will start in a rather unfavorable position following the post draw.

Here is how, and what, to watch for in the 2026 Kentucky Derby.

How to watch the 2026 Kentucky Derby

Race day begins at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 2nd on the NBC family of networks, however, there are numerous races ahead of the main event.

Starting at 12:00 p.m. ET, the event will be on NBCSN and Peacock until 2:30 p.m. ET. Then, at 2:30 p.m. ET, the Derby will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock until 7:30 p.m.

You can also stream everything through Peacock starting at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

What are the odds for the race?

These will change as we approach race time, but here are the current odds for the 2026 Kentucky Derby, as available from Churchill Downs, arranged by the post draw:

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds	Status
1	Renegade	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Todd A. Pletcher	4-1	In the field
2	Albus	Manuel Franco	Riley Mott	30-1	In the field
3	Intrepido	Hector I. Berrios	Jeff Mullins	50-1	In the field
4	Litmus Test	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	30-1	In the field
5	Right to Party	Christopher Elliott	Kenneth G. Mcpeek	26-1	Scratched
6	Commandment	Luis Saez	Brad H. Cox	7-1	In the field
7	Danon Bourbon	Atsuya Nishimura	Manabu Ikezoe	14-1	In the field
8	So Happy	Mike E. Smith	Mark Glatt	6-1	In the field
9	The Puma	Javier Castellano	Gustavo Delgado	8-1	In the field
10	Wonder Dean	Ryusei Sakai	Daisuke Takayanagi	20-1	In the field
11	Incredibolt	Jaime A. Torres	Riley Mott	27-1	In the field
12	Chief Wallabee	Junior Alvarado	William I. Mott	9-1	In the field
13	Silent Tactic	Christian A. Torres	Mark E. Casse	38-1	Scratched
14	Potente	Juan J. Hernandez	Bob Baffert	23-1	In the field
15	Emerging Market	Flavlen Prat	Chad C. Brown	11-1	In the field
16	Pavlovian	Edwin A. Maldonado	Doug F. O’Neill	52-1	In the field
17	Six Speed	Brian J. Hernandez, Jr.	Bhupat Seemar	40-1	In the field
18	Further Ado	John R. Velazquez	Brad H. Cox	7-1	In the field
19	Golden Tempo	Jose L. Ortiz	Cherie Devaux	36-1	In the field
20	Fulleffort	Tyler Gaffalione	Brad H. Cox	19-1	Scratched
21	Great White	Alex Achard	John Ennis	29-1	In the field
22	Ocelli	Joseph D. Ramos	D. Whitworth Beckman	50-1	In the field
23	Robusta	Emisael Jaramillo	Doug F. O’Neill	50-1	In the field

Who to watch in the Kentucky Derby

As you can see in the above table, Renegade enters the 2026 Kentucky Derby as the favorite, but the Todd A. Pletcher-trained horse drew the inside #1 post, which could pose a problem on Saturday. The last horse to win from “the rail” was Ferdinand, which happened before many of you were alive back in 1986. Historically, just 8.3% of Kentucky Derby winners started in the #1 post.

Commandment enters the 2026 Kentucky Derby on an incredible winning streak, as the 3-year-old colt has won four straight races. That includes the Florida Derby, an event that has produced 26 Kentucky Derby winners. In that race, Commandment “averaged a 22.92-foot stride length and ran the final furlong in just 12.32 seconds, 0.36 seconds faster than any other horse in the field.”

Further Ado is another horse to watch in this field. The horse, also trained by Brad H. Cox, Commandment’s trainer, secured a 20-length win at Keeneland last October, for its maiden victory. Add in Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, and you could have a winning recipe.

As of Friday morning three horses — Right to Party, Silent Tactic, and Fulleffort — have been scratched from the field.

Anything else I should know?

If you are hosting a Derby Party you will need a few things. First, the perfect mint julep. Assuming you can find good mint, Alton Brown’s recipe and technique is a good recipe to follow. The Kentucky Derby also has a recipe you can follow.

Second, you’ll need the right menu. The Kentucky Derby has shared the “Derby At Home” menu which includes chicken salad sandwiches, char-grilled short ribs with pomegranate and fennel, honey bourbon grilled chicken, brown sugar glazed carrots, and more.