Kentucky Derby 2026: Workers race to beat rain at Churchill

Louisville, Ky.

Just two weeks before the big day, it literally was the calm before the storm for Kentucky Derby 2026 workers Saturday morning at Churchill Downs.

Albus and Right to Party, the top two finishers April 4 in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, breezed on the main track about two hours apart, both beating the incoming rain that was forecast to drench Kentuckiana all day.

“Good,” Right to Party’s trainer Kenny McPeek said. “But I would have worked him in the slop tomorrow if it was necessary.”

Where Wood ranks among preps for Kentucky Derby.

Out with a workmate for trainer Riley Mott just after 5 a.m. EDT, Albus breezed four furlongs in 49.0 seconds, according to Churchill Downs clockers. During the 7:15-7:30 a.m. EDT training period that is just for Derby and Kentucky Oaks (G1) horses, Right to Party drilled on the outside flank of a stablemate and went five furlongs in 1:00.8 on the fast main track.

“Just told the boys to try to go 49, which is just a standard half-mile for us,” trainer Riley Mott said about Wood winner Albus. “He’s coming off a big race, and we’re just looking to keep him happy and healthy leading into the Derby. I just call it a maintenance type of work, and it looked pretty typical for him.”

Owned by Pin Oak Stud, the Yaupon colt had splits of 12.0 and 24.4 and galloped out at 1:02.2 and 1:15.6 through five and six furlongs. It was Albus’s first timed work since March 28. That was when he went a half-mile in 50.0 seconds at Palm Meadows, the Florida training center where Mott’s Virginia Derby winner Incredibolt will be boarding a trailer in the coming days to be shipped to Kentucky.

“Both horses, just trying to keep them ticking over until Derby day,” said Mott, the son of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. “Both look well and doing well. I’m confident in how both of our horses are doing leading into the race. Hopefully it stays that way. We’ve got to get through this work and next week’s work, so there’s a lot of time between now and then. We’re hoping we can do what we can to keep our horses healthy.”

McPeek said Right to Party, who finished second by 1 1/4 lengths in the Wood, has not missed a beat in his Derby preparation.

“This horse is coming into this race without any issues,” he said. “He’s an easy horse to be around. (Consulting trainer) Jimmy Jerkens in New York gets a lot of the credit for that, because he’s had him up there, and this is our first time him here at Churchill.”

With Robby Albarado riding Saturday, the Constitution colt owned by Chester Broman had splits of 12.4, 24.0 and 36.0 before his gallop-out at 1:00.8 and 1:14.2.

“This was his first breeze at Churchill, and so that’s a good first step,” McPeek said. “Next weekend we’ll do something similar. We’re not going to overcomplicate it. It’ll be basic routine.”

Right to Party last appeared on the work tab March 29, when he drilled a half-mile in 50.0 seconds on the training track at Belmont Park.

McPeek, who won the 2024 Derby with Mystik Dan, did not feel the need for Right to Party to add late speed to stretch to 1 1/4 miles May 2.

“We’re not looking for that. We’re looking for a just-12s race,” he said. “Pace you can’t control, but I want a race that he just hits 12s. If you go around there 12 seconds every eighth of a mile, then you’re going to win the Derby.”

Chip Honcho, who needs two scratches ahead of him to draw into the 20-horse starting gate May 2, worked five furlongs in company in 59.2 seconds for trainer Steve Asmussen.

Final workouts will be concentrated around this time next week. By that time every horse who will be in the Derby has to be at Churchill Downs, where entries will be taken and post positions drawn next Saturday afternoon between races 3 and 4 on opening day.

There will be more visitors in the stable area as the buzz of activity increases each day. As the crowds get bigger, McPeek might have more confidence that his horses will be more apathetic about them than Sonny. His über-friendly 7-year-old Labrador gets curious and wanders around the backside looking to make new friends.

“Did the dog get loose?” McPeek asked at the end of a six-minute media scrum. By then Sonny was 100 yards away and counting.

“Sonny. Sonny. Sonny. Sonny. Hey, Sonny,” McPeek yelled before explaining, “He’ll be gone. That’s why I was asking somebody to hold him, because he’ll disappear. He’s very inquisitive.”

Sonny came back in short order. He, too, might have been trying to beat the rain.