Ky. Derby: The Puma gains young admirers with backside visit

The Puma has a new cadre of young admirers after they visited Churchill Downs on Monday morning ahead of Saturday's Kentucky Derby 2026.

The children were on the backside through the Operation Open Arms program, a private child-placing organization that provides support to biological parents who need voluntary foster-care services as they seek to improve their situation.

The group began bringing children to Churchill Downs in 2002, said Cathy Bailey, co-founder and co-chair of Operation Open Arms.

She said that in 2001, "We had a guest come in who was going off to be the assistant secretary at the Department of Justice. And he said, when we got back (from) the track and all the women's feet were tired and we had kicked off our shoes and sitting back for a while, he goes, 'I've got a problem across this country. I've got over 100,000 kids who have either a mom or dad behind bars. And we need to do something about it to make sure they get the right kind of care so that they can go on and have a very productive life to go out into society and contribute their lives in jobs and business and families and homes.'

"So that was the concept and why we now celebrate every year this time of year, because we opened our doors in 2002 to Operation Open Arms. Here it is 2026, we've had close to 100 children go through our program."

On Monday, the children met The Puma and fed him carrots. They were greeted by trainer Gustavo Delgado and his son, assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado Jr., who answered questions about the colt.

"Hopefully they love it," the younger Delgado said. "And they ended up giving him carrots and a little bit of bonding time with the horse."

The children also presented Delgado with drawings of The Puma. "Hopefully that's going to bring us good energy, good vibes, good luck."