Enter to win a Kentucky Derby #DerbyAtHome Mint Julep kit

By Apr 27, 2021, 1:45 PM EDT
NBC Sports
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In 2021, the Kentucky Derby returns home to the First Saturday in May.

To celebrate the upcoming Derby, NBC Sports has created limited-edition #DerbyAtHome Mint Julep kits that fans can enter to win.

This unique, premium kit includes all of the necessary ingredients (and a few additional Derby-themed accessories) to make the perfect mint julep for this year’s Run for the Roses.

The kits will be delivered in a custom box set and features everything below (and more!):

  • Two official official Woodford Reserve Copper Mint Julep glasses
  • Race-used dirt directly from Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby
  • Custom rose petal coasters
  • Woodford Reserve Mint Julep Syrup
  • A live mint plant
  • Scrabble-style betting game
  • Mint julep recipe card

To enter to win your own kit, please sign up at nbcsports.com/DerbyAtHome.

You can sign up once per day and winners will be selected through May 1!

Keep the celebration going by sharing your Derby attire and party photos and videos with #DerbyAtHome and tagging @NBCSports on social media!

Watch the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1 from 12 to 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Full coverage is also available on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.

Forte works out, waits for Belmont Stakes clearance

Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 3:14 PM EDT
Matt Stone/USA TODAY NETWORK
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NEW YORK — Forte, the early Kentucky Derby favorite who was scratched on the day of the race, worked out in preparation for a possible start in the Belmont Stakes on June 10.

Under regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr., Forte worked five-eighths of a mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. It was the colt’s second workout since being scratched from the Derby on May 6.

“It seems like he’s maintained his fitness level,” Pletcher said. “It seems like everything is in good order.”

Forte was placed on a mandatory 14-day veterinary list after being scratched from the Derby because of a bruised right front foot. In order to be removed from the list, the colt had to work in front of a state veterinarian and give a blood sample afterward, the results of which take five days.

“There’s protocols in place and we had to adhere to those and we’re happy that everything went smoothly,” Pletcher said. “We felt confident the horse was in good order or we wouldn’t have been out there twice in the last six days, but you still want to make sure everything went smoothly and we’re happy everything did go well.”

Pletcher said Kingsbarns, who finished 14th in the Kentucky Derby, will miss the Belmont. The colt is showing signs of colic, although he is fine, the trainer said.

Another Pletcher-trained horse, Prove Worthy, is under consideration for the Belmont. He also has Tapit Trice, who finished seventh in the Derby, being pointed toward the Belmont.

Judge grants Churchill Downs’ request for summary judgment to dismiss Bob Baffert’s lawsuit

Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 9:36 PM EDT
churchill downs
Abbey Cutrer/USA TODAY NETWORK
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A federal judge has granted Churchill Downs’ motion for summary judgment that dismisses Bob Baffert’s claim the track breached due process by suspending the Hall of Fame trainer for two years.

Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert in June 2021 after his now-deceased colt, Medina Spirit, failed a postrace drug test after crossing the finish line first in the 147th Kentucky Derby. The trainer’s request to lift the discipline was denied in February, keeping him out of the Derby for a second consecutive May.

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings ruled in a 12-page opinion issued Wednesday that Churchill Downs’ suspension of Baffert did not devalue his Kentucky trainer’s license. It cited his purse winnings exceeding $1 million at Keeneland in Lexington and stated that his argument “amounts to a false analogy that distorts caselaw.”

Jennings denied CDI’s motion to stay discovery as moot.

The decision comes less than a week after Baffert-trained colt National Treasure won the Preakness in his first Triple Crown race in two years. His record eighth win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown came hours after another of his horses, Havnameltdown, was euthanized following an injury at Pimlico.

Churchill Downs said in a statement that it was pleased with the court’s favorable ruling as in Baffert’s other cases.

It added, “While he may choose to file baseless appeals, this completes the seemingly endless, arduous and unnecessary litigation proceedings instigated by Mr. Baffert.”

Baffert’s suspension is scheduled to end on June 2, but the track’s release noted its right to extend it “and will communicate our decision” at its conclusion.