Latest news with #KENTUCKYDERBY
Al Etihad
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
Godolphin's Sovereignty rules in 151st Kentucky Derby
4 May 2025 08:28 Louisville (AFP)Sovereignty powered through the final turn and out-dueled favorite Journalism in the final straight to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, giving the Godolphin stable a first victory in the US racing classic at Churchill by the sloppy track after a rainy day in Louisville, Sovereignty gained control in the final furlong to give Venezuelan jockey Junior Alvarado a first Kentucky Derby was a first Kentucky Derby victory for His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai's Godolphin in their 13th attempt in the 1 1/4-mile Run for the it capped an impressive global week for Godolphin. Their Good Cheer won the Kentucky Oaks for fillies at Churchill Downs on Friday and they won the English 2000 Guineas with Ruling Court on Saturday."It means the world to me," a mud-splattered Alvarado told broadcaster NBC as he made his way aboard Sovereignty toward the winner's circle. "I thought I had a great chance," he said, adding thanks to Mott for putting him back on Sovereignty after he recovered from a broken shoulder suffered in a spill in March. Journalism, the heavy favorite as he arrived on a four-race winning streak, finished second and Baeza, who got into the field on Friday after two horses were scratched, was a fast-finishing third. SOVEREIGNTY WINS THE KENTUCKY DERBY! 🌹 Bill Mott trains and @JuniorandKellyA was aboard for @godolphin! 🏆 — TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) May 3, 2025 For Mott, it was officially a second Kentucky Derby victory, but it was the first time he got to see his horse hit the wire trained Country House, who was declared the winner in 2019 after Maximum Security was disqualified."This one got there the right way," Mott said. "It'll take a while to sink in." "It's a race that we always wanted to try and win," Michael Banahan, Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock, said as he accepted the trophy and admired the view of Churchill Downs' twin spires from the winner's circle for the first time. "It's a great feeling."Sovereignty, sent off at 7-1 in the $5 million race, was well back at the half-mile mark but moving up as they turned for Citizen Bull faded, jockey Umberto Rispoli brought Journalism to the front on the inside. Wonderful horse race Alvarado had to work his way past Chunk of Gold and then had Sovereignty in his sights. They were neck-and-neck in the straight before Sovereignty's final surge carried him to a 1 1/2-length win."It was a wonderful horse race," Banahan said. "You've got the two best horses, one from the East Coast, one from the West Coast, locking down there, not one of them giving an inch and right down to the wire before we got the better of Journalism."So it's a fantastic race."Now Sovereignty's connections will decide if the colt will be pointed at the Preakness Stakes, the second jewel in US flat racing's Triple crown on May treble concludes with the Belmont Stakes on June 7. That race will be held not at Belmont Park, which is undergoing renovations, but at Saratoga Race Course in upstate New York."We'll see how he comes out of the race," Banahan said. "We'll see what the Hall of Fame trainer wants to do with him, but if he's good coming out it would be the logical place to go. "We'd love to try and go back and win the Preakness."
New York Times
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How NBC handled the 2025 Kentucky Derby broadcast: ‘Sovereignty to rule!'
With Sovereignty handling the slop at Churchill Downs to win the 151st Kentucky Derby, we offer seven takeaways on NBC's Derby coverage from the dry comforts of our home. 1. Race caller Larry Collmus, the first person to call the Kentucky Derby for 15 straight years, delivered the goods down the stretch. Here are the words he chose — incredibly precise: 'Journalism and Sovereignty, nose to nose, down to the last 1/16 of a mile. Sovereignty has taken the lead! Journalism is second toward the inside! Baeza is third! It will be SOVEREIGNTY TO RULE THE KENTUCKY DERBY!' Advertisement 2. Something I wish NBC did on Saturday was hold the leaderboard graphic for additional seconds, which would have given viewers a better feel for Sovereignty roaring to catch the field. We got a split-second graphic showing Journalism moving into fourth and that was it for the leaderboard. 3. Ahmed Fareed undoubtedly raised his stock with NBC Sports brass on Saturday. Fareed is a regular part of the Derby coverage but had to take over as the main host of the coverage in the 3:00 p.m. ET hour as regular host Mike Tirico sounded sick when he came on the air. Tirico later posted on X that he had 'a significant reaction to my nut allergy. If you have one you know how it can knock you down.' Tirico went back to the hotel during the coverage. A six-time Derby broadcast veteran, Fareed seamlessly handled the host role and found easy chemistry with analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss. Excellent work. 4. NBC thankfully scaled back on the over-the-top celebrity drop-ins when compared to previous Derby years. But they still included an unwatchable segment with Alix Earle and Braxton Berrios. Find someone who loves you as much as NBCU loves the nexus of celebrity and sports. 5. Donna Brothers has one of the most interesting reporting assignments in sports. For the past 25 years, she has served as the racing reporter on NBC's horse racing coverage. But Brothers, a champion jockey prior to joining NBC, does much of her job on horseback unlike the rest of us. She got great stuff from winning jockey Junior Alvarado following the race. Brothers was a guest on my podcast last week and I asked her where she is located during the Derby and how she approaches the assignment. 'Because of the mile and a quarter start, it would take me too much time if I stood behind the gate and tried to follow the horses,' Brothers said. 'So I stand behind the gates as the horses are loading into the starting gate and I watch in case there's any sort of an incident with any of the horses loading and they might need to come to me for a report. As that last horse goes into the starting gate, I take off for what we'd call the wrong way of the racetrack, the opposite direction that the horses are gonna be running. Advertisement 'So I'm on the outside fence galloping along, and I'll get to about the half mile pole or just before the half-mile pole and about that time, the horses have now turned up the backstretch,' she continued. 'I wait with one or two of the outriders for the field to go past me. That's the only time I really get to see the horses and the riders, so I try to take a snapshot at that point and think, do the three or four horses on the lead look like the jockey is sitting on a lot of horse? 'Then I look to see where's the favorite is or a couple of the horses that are gonna be closing, and do they look like they're in a position to close or do they like they look they're too far back and they've already given up. That's all I have really to go on, the field goes by us and then we take off running the wrong way again, and I get into position to interview them. I'm listening to Larry Collmus' call of the race and hope that he doesn't say something at the end, like it's too close to call.' 6. It will be interesting to see if the Derby can follow up on last year's viewership, which was a big increase relative to recent years. Last year's broadcast averaged a total audience of 16.7 million viewers, the largest Kentucky Derby audience since 1989. Viewership peaked at 20.1 million viewers from 7 to 7:15 p.m. ET when Mystik Dan won the photo finish. The streaming audience on Peacock was also huge. Peacock said it had an average minute audience of 714,000 viewers, well up from 2023 (371,000). A viewership snapshot of the last couple of years: 2024: 16.7 million viewers 2023: 14.8 million viewers 2022: 15.8 million viewers 2021: 14.9 million viewers 7. We saw some big cross-promotion on the broadcast as NBC aired a commercial announcing that Roundball Rock will make its long-awaited return to the NBA next season with NBCUniversal with NBC and Peacock airing NBA games starting next fall. They also formally announced Carmelo Anthony as an NBA studio analyst, which The Athletic reported in February.
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Who won the Kentucky Derby? Results and full finish order
Who won the Kentucky Derby? Results and full finish order Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado entered their names in the horse racing history after winning the 151st Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3. The race is completed in 2 minutes and 2.31 seconds on a fairly wet track. Citizen Bull led a majority of the race before Neoequos took over prior to the final turn. Journalism briefly pulled ahead with the lead before Sovereignty pulled ahead down the final stretch to win the race. Journalism entered the race as the favorite. Alvarado was set back by an injury in the weeks leading up to the derby that included a trip to the hospital. He also fell off his horse but was not injured during the Thurby race earlier in the week. "I can't even describe it," Alvarado said in a post-race interview in the moments after the derby. "(My family) is probably way over the moon right now." KENTUCKY DERBY UPDATES: The latest from Churchill Downs 2025 Kentucky Derby official results The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Mike Tirico departs NBC Kentucky Derby coverage feeling 'under the weather'
Mike Tirico departs NBC Kentucky Derby coverage feeling 'under the weather' Show Caption Hide Caption How oldest living Kentucky Derby winner spends his retirement Silver Charm, who won the 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, is thriving at age 31 as he enjoys retirement at Old Friends Farm. Sports Pulse Veteran sportscaster Mike Tirico is a late scratch at the 2025 Kentucky Derby. Tirico, who has led NBC Sports' Triple Crown coverage since 2017, was on the call Saturday for the network ahead of "The Run for the Roses" on a rainy and cold day at Churchill Downs, but eagle-eyed viewers noticed that Tirico appeared to be less than 100%. It was later announced that Tirico had to step away from the Kentucky Derby coverage in Louisville shortly after 3 p.m. ET due to feeling "under the weather." "Mike, as you may have heard, is a little under the weather right now," announced NBC Sports host Ahmed Fareed, who took over for Tirico on the NBC Sports desk on the racetrack. It's not clear if Tirico will return for the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby, which has a post time scheduled for 7:02 p.m. ET. KENTUCKY DERBY 2025 LIVE UPDATES: Time, TV, odds, results from Churchill Downs Social media users pointed out Tirico didn't appear to be his usual self during the broadcast. "Mike Tirico sounds like he should be in bed sleeping, not covering the Derby," one social media user wrote, while another added, "Why are we pretending like Mike Tirico is ok. Something is very wrong." Others pointed out that Tirico's legendary voice that has become a staple on NBC Sports airwaves was not up to par today: "Mike Tirico's voice might not make it to the end of the Kentucky Derby telecast." What happened to Mike Tirico? Social media reacts Here's how social media reacted to Tirico's departure from Kentucky Derby coverage. The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.
USA Today
03-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2025 Kentucky Derby horse numbers for every contender
2025 Kentucky Derby horse numbers for every contender If you're watching the 2025 Kentucky Derby, you'll have the trusted voice of the legendary Larry Collmus calling the race, telling you where all the contenders are in the field as The Run For the Roses happens. MORE KENTUCKY DERBY: Every horse name in 2025, ranked But let's say you're at home and you're trying to figure out where the horse you bet on is? We're here to help. Here are the numbers for each of the horses you'll see racing on Saturday: 1. Citizen Bull 2. Neoequos 3. Final Gambit 5. American Promise 6. Admire Daytona 7. Luxor Cafe 8. Journalism 9. Burnham Square 11. Flying Mohawk 12. East Avenue 13. Publisher 14. Tiztastic 15. Render Judgement 16. Coal Battle 17. Sandman 18. Sovereignty 19. Chunk of Gold 20. Owen Almighty 21. Baeza
