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NBC Sports’ Kenny Rice previews an intriguing Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, and it’s a special time of year for Kenny Rice.
The NBC Sports thoroughbred racing reporter is a Kentucky native. He graduated from the University of Kentucky and once served as the sports director at WTVQ in Lexington. This weekend, he’ll cover his 25th Kentucky Derby for NBC. He will also be involved in Friday’s coverage of the Kentucky Oaks, which will air in primetime for the first time ever at 8 p.m. ET.
Renegade enters as the favorite, but historically, that doesn’t mean much. We recently caught up with Rice to discuss the 152nd Run for the Roses.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Awful Announcing: You’re not 100% healthy. What happened?
Kenny Rice: “I’ve got a bad right foot. It was a misstep. It happened two weeks ago, and I just took a bad step. I have dislocated my fourth and fifth metatarsals and have tiny fractures, which they call fragments, around my ankle. Not a complete break, but rather small fractures and soft-tissue damage. So I’m in a walking boot, which I’ve got to tell you is a load. Those things are heavy. I’ve been very lucky. I’ve never had a broken bone until now.”
Will this injury affect your job?
“I’m still doing basically everything except the walkover itself. I’ll be doing interviews in the paddock instead of walking the track. But last year, because of who I was interviewing, I was in the paddock anyway. D. Wayne Lukas, Bob Baffert, and Bill Mott were there. So I did interviews in the paddock last year, which had nothing to do with my physical condition, obviously.”
Renegade saw you watching.
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 28, 2026
What is the main story for this Kentucky Derby?
“(Trainer) Brad Cox. We know he’s won a Derby, but not while he was there. I’ve known Brad for a while, and I know that’s one thing he wants to do, like Bill Mott did last year. Of course, Bill was there when they declared him a winner. He just had to wait 22 minutes. But Brad got his trophy a few weeks later. So I think that’s big, especially coming in here with the kind of talent he’s bringing. I mean, this might be as good as any group he’s brought over, the trio (Commandment, Further Ado, and Fulleffort) he has.”
What do you think of Renegade?
“He was really impressive. He blew the field away. He’s got a Hall of Fame trainer in Todd Pletcher. He’s got Irad Ortiz Jr., who’s probably as good as any jockey in the country right now and has been for several years. He’s got a flamboyant, well-known owner in Michael Repole. He’s got a lot. That’s a good storyline all the way through. I think he’s got a shot. I don’t know. I think the No. 1 position might be a compromise, but again, Ortiz is on board.”
Why is the No. 1 post position problematic?
“You want to get out quickly because with 20 horses, they’re all going to start moving to the rail. The shortest distance is A to B, so they’re trying to get down to the rail to get into that first turn, and they don’t want to be hung too far out. You don’t want to be four or five wide going into the first turn. You may have to drop back to fifth, seventh, or eighth place, but at least you’ll be closer to the rail going in. The dilemma is that if you get out too fast, you may use up a lot of horse just to get to that first turn.
“The other part, and probably the worst scenario for them, is that they call it getting pinched back. Say the 6th, 9th, 10th, and 11th horses all get out quickly and cut you off, forcing you to pull your horse up again. Now you’ve got to maybe change your tactics. Most people would like to be in the middle.”
The Post Positions are in, and the countdown is on.
Watch the 152nd Kentucky Derby, Saturday May 2nd on NBC and Peacock. pic.twitter.com/MQeU39ayD0
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) April 25, 2026
Is there an elite horse in the field?
“There’s not that one horse you say, ‘Man, this horse is just really good.’ Like Baffert did when he brought American Pharoah in and won the Triple Crown, or when he came back with Justify and eventually won the Triple Crown. There are a few times you see a horse that’s just that good. This year, I think you could make a case for about three, four, maybe even five horses in this race.”
If you’re going to bet on a long shot, who should it be?
“Maybe Golden Tempo, who was 30-1. Cherie DeVaux would become the first female trainer ever to win the Derby. There’s a horse named Chief Wallabee, trained by Bill Mott, who won the race last year. He’s 8-1. That’s not a bad price. Even Commandment, one of Brad Cox’s top horses at 6-1, is obviously not that super long shot that a lot of people like to hit, but those don’t come around as often as people think. If you want to go crazy and throw in $5 on a 30-1 shot, I would probably do it on Golden Tempo.”
Is there a sentimental favorite?
“So Happy checks all the boxes. He won the Santa Anita Derby. His trainer, Mark Glatt, lost his wife unexpectedly about three months ago. He’s got children and has to deal with all that emotion and sadness, yet he still gets to the Derby for the first time in his career. He’s ridden by a Hall of Fame jockey, Mike Smith, who’s amazing. He’s the Tom Brady of jockeys. He’s 59 years old and still at the top of his game. And the horse’s breeder (Leverett Miller) is in his 90s. His wife passed away a few years ago, and they wanted to make it to a Derby. Now they’ve made it to a Derby with this horse.”
It’s that time of the year.
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) April 27, 2026
Do you have a favorite Derby memory?
“I remember interviewing Carl Nafzger after he won with Street Sense. I’d met Carl 20 years earlier, when he had Unbridled in ‘90. I was getting ready to interview him when, out of the blue, Richard Petty came up and congratulated him while I was doing the interview. At that split second, I thought maybe I’d get Richard Petty in on this interview. Then I thought, no, this is Carl’s moment. I just acknowledged that it was Richard Petty and stayed with Carl. That was a pretty cool one.”
Our condolences on the passing of your father, Reginald, last year. What can you tell us about him?
“My dad had a tremendous influence on my career. My love of sports came from him as a boy, when he took me to Crosley Field to watch the Reds. We all grew up as St. Louis Cardinals fans because my grandfather had been one, and we passed that down through generations. It’s a huge void in my life because we were actually great friends…
“I grew up in a small town in Kentucky, and I thought being a sportscaster might be a great way to see the world. So I focused on becoming an announcer, and he critiqued me. He wasn’t the kind of guy who said, ‘Oh, you’re the best, way to go.’ He would still give me tips on some of my interviews, even as recently as last year. He was watching from his hospital bed. It was always constructive, very loving, and very realistic.”
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