The 2026 Derby: ‘From Last to Legend’

What a race the 152nd Kentucky Derby turned out to be — thanks to the incredible run in the homestretch by Golden Tempo. “A stretch run for the ages … impossible to believe,” exclaimed Yahoo Sports’s Dan Wolken. All the more so, we’d add, for the 23 to one odds at which Golden Tempo went off. “INSANE,” was the word in one of the headlines on Youtube. We like the way the headline writers at Sports Illustrated put it: “From last to legend.”We get that horse racing’s homestretches have seen a lot of great runs. At the Kentucky Derby four years ago, a horse called Rich Strike went off on odds of 80 to one. He then ran such a startling race from far back and up on the inside that he crossed the finish line first, while the best words the announcer could come up with were “Oh, my goodness.” Great races from far back of the pack were almost a trademark strategy for Secretariat.Including, say, Secretariat’s runs in the Kentucky Derby and in the Preakness. In both those races Secretariat started far back. In both, the steed seemed to make a calculated decision. In the Derby, he seemed almost to step to his right and then haul past the horses ahead of him. Then again, too, by the time Secretariat got to the top of the stretch, he was second. In contrast, at that point in this year’s Derby, Golden Tempo was looking at 17 horses ahead of him.Then, of course, there was Secretariat’s gallop down the stretch in the Belmont. It may be the most amazing run ever made by multi-cellular being. Yet when Secretariat entered the stretch at Belmont, he was already in first place. At the top of the stretch, he was something like 18 lengths ahead of the second nag, Sham. Secretariat was still accelerating, finishing 31 lengths ahead of the second horse. In the stands, many were hushed, some weeping.When Golden Tempo neared the top of the stretch Saturday, he was flat out last. Meaning, something like seven lengths behind the next-to-the-last horse. Then he determined to go for it. There is wonderful overhead footage. Golden Temp’s jockey, Jose Ortiz, barreled past his brother who was riding the favorite, Renegade, and who finished second. Inches before the finish, Golden Tempo lunged ahead, winning by a nose and becoming immortal.

The 2026 Derby: ‘From Last to Legend’

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