Results of Our 2026 Kentucky Derby Picks
Congrats to Golden Tempo in Winning the KY Derby!
It was truly an exciting and history making race when Golden Tempo (23-1) won the 152nd Kentucky Derby coming from last in the field of 18 to get up in time to win by a neck as his trainer Cherie DeVaux became the first women trainer to win the Kentucky Derby!
The race was run as most people thought as Six Speed from Japan led the field from the start to the 3/4 pole. All the while the undefeated Danon Boubon, another from Japan, was tracking the pace setter and took charge on the far turn and looked as the probale winner as he kicked for home with a 2 length lead in the stretch as the Closers were making their move!
Ocelli (71-1), still a Maiden, got first run on the leader and actual put his head in front for a moment before Renegade (5-1) kicked into gear and gaining ground on the leader with Golden Tempo (23-1) close behind to battle it out in the last 50 yards with Jose Ortiz and Golden Tempo prevailing over Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Renegade!
That's right, the Ortiz brothers made up the Exacta for $278.
Renegade put in one terrific run coming out of the dreaded No. 1 Post as 20 yards out of the gate, the five horses just to his outside came over and basically crushed him into the rail as he got knocked around badly which took him off his stride, But his jockey, Irad Oritz, Jr. eased him back and got him back into stride.
Golden Tempo went from last to first making about 18 lengths to get the win by a neck. It was a great ride by his jockey!
To run 2nd and almost win the race was a remarkable feat as he just might have been the best horse in the field. This is why no horse has won the KY Derby from Post No. 1 since Ferdinand in 1986.
The Maiden Ocelli also ran a very good race to finished 3rd to complete the $5,625 50CENT Trifecta as he got into the field from the Also-Eligible list.
Closers filled out the Superfecta as they were 10th or further back at the Mile pole.
The time of the race was rub in 2:02.27 before a crowd of 150,415 fans.
Jockey Jose Ortiz had a big weekend at Churchill Downs as he also won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday with Always a Runner and becme just the 3rd jockey to accomplish this feat in this century and the 9th overall!
In Our KY Derby Picks:
We made So Happy (15-1 ML) our Top Pick as he was in the Proven Winning Derby Profile's top 5 point scorers based on the 23 categories used to identify the most likely horses to Win and be in the Exacta. The other top scorers were Golden Tempo (30-1 ML), The Puma (10-1 ML), Albus (30-1 ML) and Renegade (4-1 ML).
We explained how Renegade and Commandment were the horses to beat as they looked to be the best in the field but we do not like using the Favorite as our to pick in the Kentucky Derby and thus felt that So Happy would be the best choice of our top 5 scorers to win the race.
Our Derby wagering strategy requires us to use 3-A, 3-B and 4-C runners with the As being most likely for the Win, the Bs best for the bottom of the Exacta and in the Trifecta and the Cs to be used in the bottom of the Trifecta and in the Superfecta.
We used So Happy as our A1 horse and The Puma and Emerging Market as our A2 and A3 runners.
Our B horses were Commandment (B1), Danon Bourbon (B2) and Further Ado as B3.
The C horses were Chief Wallabee (C1), Right to Party (C2), Renegade (C3) and Potente (C4).
In our Picks we said if there are any Scratches, add #19 Golden Tempo and #2 Albus to the bottom and move everyone up to fill in.
When The Puma (A2) and The Right to Party (C3) were Scratched our adjusted order of runners for our wagering strategy became: So Happy, Emerging Market and Commandment as our As, Danon Bourbon, Further Ado, and Chief Wallabee as our Bs and Renegade, Potente, Golden Tempo and Albus as our Cs.
Based on our recommended wagers, this adjusted order is what allowed us to cashin on the $2 Exacta ($278) even though So Happy could only finish 9th. We did not use the Maiden longshot Ocelli (71-1), who got in off the Also-eligable list, and thus missed hitting the Trifecta & Superfecta.
So Happy tracked three wide and was racing just in behind the pace setter, Six Speed, all the while was with in 1/2 - 1 length behind into the final turn and in contention unil the final furlong where he began to fade as the Closers were passing him bye as he finished 9th. I knew we were in trouble when the odds dropped so low that So Happy was made the 2nd favorite and basically the Co-favorite, his odds went from 15-1 to 5-1, as favorites have not won the KY Derby since 2018 and I do not like to bet the favorite to win the Derby!
In our Picks for the Pick 5, Pick 4 and Pick 3 wagers that ended with the Kentucky Derby, we had the winner in each leg with the exception of Golden Tempo.
We made So Happy (15-1 ML) our Top Pick as he was in the Proven Winning Derby Profile's top 5 point scorers based on the 23 categories used to identify the most likely horses to Win and be in the Exacta. The other top scorers were Golden Tempo (30-1 ML), The Puma (10-1 ML), Albus (30-1 ML) and Renegade (4-1 ML).
We explained how Renegade and Commandment were the horses to beat as they looked to be the best in the field but we do not like using the Favorite as our to pick in the Kentucky Derby and thus felt that So Happy would be the best choice of our top 5 scorers to win the race.
Our Derby wagering strategy requires us to use 3-A, 3-B and 4-C runners with the As being most likely for the Win, the Bs best for the bottom of the Exacta and in the Trifecta and the Cs to be used in the bottom of the Trifecta and in the Superfecta.
We used So Happy as our A1 horse and The Puma and Emerging Market as our A2 and A3 runners.
Our B horses were Commandment (B1), Danon Bourbon (B2) and Further Ado as B3.
The C horses were Chief Wallabee (C1), Right to Party (C2), Renegade (C3) and Potente (C4).
In our Picks we said if there are any Scratches, add #19 Golden Tempo and #2 Albus to the bottom and move everyone up to fill in.
When The Puma (A2) and The Right to Party (C3) were Scratched our adjusted order of runners for our wagering strategy became: So Happy, Emerging Market and Commandment as our As, Danon Bourbon, Further Ado, and Chief Wallabee as our Bs and Renegade, Potente, Golden Tempo and Albus as our Cs.
Based on our recommended wagers, this adjusted order is what allowed us to cashin on the $2 Exacta ($278) even though So Happy could only finish 9th. We did not use the Maiden longshot Ocelli (71-1), who got in off the Also-eligable list, and thus missed hitting the Trifecta & Superfecta.
So Happy tracked three wide and was racing just in behind the pace setter, Six Speed, all the while was with in 1/2 - 1 length behind into the final turn and in contention unil the final furlong where he began to fade as the Closers were passing him bye as he finished 9th. I knew we were in trouble when the odds dropped so low that So Happy was made the 2nd favorite and basically the Co-favorite, his odds went from 15-1 to 5-1, as favorites have not won the KY Derby since 2018 and I do not like to bet the favorite to win the Derby!
In our Picks for the Pick 5, Pick 4 and Pick 3 wagers that ended with the Kentucky Derby, we had the winner in each leg with the exception of Golden Tempo.