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Inside the Kentucky Derby: What fans don’t see at Churchill Downs on race day
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On Saturday, more than 150,000 spectators are expected to descend on the famed Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, but the story of race day begins long before the crowd arrives.
For those behind the scenes, Derby Day on May 2 isn’t about crisp mint juleps and eye-catching hats. It’s the culmination of years of training, millions in investment and the final hours when it all comes together.
And spectators willing to spend a pretty penny for the elite experience could dole out approximately $16,800 for a seat at a table above the track, while costs listed on the website for private turf suites start at $280,000.
«It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these horses,» Stan Bowling, lead tour guide at the Kentucky Derby Museum, told Fox News Digital. And some fans feel the same way.
KENTUCKY DERBY MINT JULEP: MISTAKES TO AVOID WHEN MAKING THIS ICONIC COCKTAIL
The Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs is referred to as the «fastest two minutes in sports.» This year the race falls on Saturday, May 2, 2026. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Only 3-year-old thoroughbreds can qualify for the race, with training that begins early and intensifies in the years leading up to the Kentucky Derby, affectionately called the «fastest two minutes in sports.»
«A lot is riding on that two minutes and a little bit of change for all these owners, trainers and jockeys,» said Bowling, a Kentucky native who has attended the race 28 times. «There are no do-overs on this track.»
While the race itself is quick, the road to Churchill Downs is anything but. Along the way, horses earn points through qualifying races, while trainers manage every detail to ensure the thoroughbreds peak at precisely the right moment.
Qualifying horses arrive in early March to adjust to the track and settle into life at Churchill Downs, which hosts roughly 750 races each year. But no other race on that track carries the same weight of the Kentucky Derby, the 12th in a 14-race lineup that anchors the day’s events.
«Every morning, from mid-March through the end of the year, the horses are going to be out on the track training between 5:30 and 10 a.m.,» Bowling said as he steered a golf cart beneath the famed track toward what’s known as the backside.
He noted that, by mid-March, approximately 1,400 horses arrive at the stalls.
A qualifying horse during an early morning training session on the track at Churchill Downs. (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
It’s here, beyond the grandstands and away from the pageantry, that Churchill Downs takes on a different identity. The backside operates like a small, self-contained community, with 47 barns housing the horses and as many as 600 workers living and working on site.
The grounds include a chapel and even a small school, part of a self-contained world that runs parallel to the spectacle just steps away.
KENTUCKY DERBY NO LONGER GUARANTEED BOOM FOR LEXINGTON AS VACANT HOTEL ROOMS REPLACE SELLOUTS
The backside stretches across rows of mostly nondescript stalls, punctuated by a few bearing the names of famed horses and their jockeys.
«Want to take a guess how much it costs to rent one of these stalls at the most famous racetrack in the world?» Bowling asked.
«$7.50.»
About 1,400 horses fill the stables across the sprawling grounds of Churchill Downs. (Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)
That modest fee is just a starting point, a small figure compared to the millions that can go into preparing a single horse over the course of its training and care.
That level of investment is mirrored in the fan experience, where attending the Derby comes at a steep price.
«It’s an expensive ticket, I will grant you that, but, for most people, coming to see the Kentucky Derby is a bucket list event,» Bowling said.
2026 KENTUCKY DERBY: POST POSITION DRAW, OPENING MORNING-LINE ODDS
Tickets range from about $160 for access to the 26-acre grassy infield, where the race is watched on large screens, to about $800 for one of the cheapest seats in the grandstand.
For grandstand ticket holders, food, alcohol and non-alcoholic drinks are included in the price, along with entry to races held on both Friday and Saturday.
«Among the 60,000 grandstand seats, those closer to the track and farther from the finish line tend to be the least expensive,» he added.
At the higher end, prices climb steeply.
A view of the Kentucky Derby grandstand at Churchill Downs, where seats can range from $1,000 to more than $16,000. (Amanda Macias/Fox News Digital)
«If you want to be in the Woodford Reserve Paddock Club for a very unique, elite experience, a table on the glass for six would cost you $16,800 a seat,» Darren Rogers of Churchill Downs told Fox News Digital.
«We have a number of different levels of packages to suit the experience guests are looking for, especially out-of-towners and bucket-list visitors.»
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Meanwhile, tickets on a typical non-Kentucky Derby race day can cost as little as $10.
But, for many, the lofty price is worth paying for a fleeting moment — two minutes that carry years of work, millions of dollars and a lifetime of ambition.
events, museums exhibits, sports, horse racing, kentucky
INTERNACIONAL
‘You failed your son first’: Howard prof blames father’s values after Karmelo Anthony murdered his son
Karmelo Anthony sentenced to 35 years for Austin Metcalf murder, appeal grounds discussed
Karmelo Anthony, convicted of first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a Texas track meet, receives a 35-year prison sentence. Jeff Metcalf delivers a powerful victim impact statement. Former U.S. Attorney Cully Stimson discusses grounds for an appeal, including a ‘Batson claim’ regarding jury selection, as protests over alleged racial bias continue outside the McKinney courthouse.
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A Howard University professor tore into the victim-impact statement delivered by the father of slain Texas teen Austin Metcalf, arguing that the teen’s death «did not begin with the knife» wielded by Karmelo Anthony but instead that his father’s parenting style was to be blamed as well.
Dr. Stacey Patton, a professor at Howard University’s School of Communications, penned an opinion piece titled «Dear Jeff Metcalf: Your Son Is Dead Because You Failed to Teach Him That Black Boys Have Boundaries» to Substack on Wednesday on Substack, where she insinuated Anthony was acting out of self-defense.
«YOU failed to teach your boy that Black children have boundaries,» Patton wrote. «YOU failed teach humility, restraint, or the sacred fact that another person’s body is not your jurisdiction. YOU failed to teach him that another child’s space is not a challenge to be conquered. YOU failed to teach him that «community» does not mean white boys get to decide who belongs and who does not.»
Patton’s piece was published a day after Anthony was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of Metcalf. The case drew national after now 19-year-old Anthony stabbed 17-year-old Metcalf in the heart during a confrontation at a high school track meeting in April 2025. The case has become a flashpoint in broader debates about race, with Anthony’s supporters arguing he has been treated differently because he is Black, while critics have rejected efforts to make the murder of Metcalf, a white teenager, about race.
GRIEVING TEXAS FATHER SPEAKS OUT AFTER SON WAS STABBED TO DEATH AT HIGH SCHOOL TRACK MEET
Left: Austin Metcalf is pictured. Right: Karmelo Anthony is pictured in a mugshot after being taken into custody following his murder conviction. (Jeff Metcalf; Collin County Sheriff’s Office)
«YOU obviously failed to teach your son that touching, confronting, crowding, testing, or policing another person can have consequences,» Patton wrote. «And YOU failed to teach him that the same world that cheers white boys for being bold and aggressive will not always be there to save them when they mistake somebody else’s restraint for permission.»
She blasted Jeff for saying that Anthony had failed his parents in his decision to murder his son.
«It is easier to stand in a courtroom and call Karmelo Anthony a failure than it is to admit that Austin’s death did not begin with the knife,» Patton wrote. «It began with every lesson that told your son that he had the right to approach, challenge, and cross a boundary. It began with every adult who smiled at white boy entitlement and called it leadership. It began with every cultural script that taught him Black boys are the ones to be feared, but never taught him that Black boys might also be afraid.
AMERICA STILL CAN’T PUT DOWN THE RACE CARD. AND IT’S THE SHAME OF OUR NATION
Jeff Metcalf speaks about the stabbing death of his son, Austin Metcalf, at a high school track meet. (Jeff Metcalf)
She also alleged that Jeff’s victim-impact statement was rooted in racism, homing in on Jeff saying that Anthony does «not belong» in the community because of what he did.
«You don’t belong in this community» is not just a father’s grief spilling over,» Patton wrote. «It is a declaration of removal. And it is the language of somebody who believes he has the authority to decide who gets to stay, who must disappear, and whose presence contaminates the social order. Like father, like son.»
«Your words landed on top of centuries of Black children being told they do not belong in white schools, neighborhoods, playgrounds, pools, churches, white juries, white imaginations, and white definitions of innocence,» Patton continues. «They landed on top of every Black boy this country has turned into a threat before he ever had a chance to be a child.»
AUSTIN METCALF’S FAMILY HIT WITH DEATH THREATS AS KARMELO ANTHONY SUPPORTERS FACE VIOLENCE ALLEGATIONS
She claimed that his son was not the only victim in this case and that Anthony’ family was also grieving.
Jeff Metcalf stands with his son Austin Metcalf, a junior at Memorial High School in Frisco, who was stabbed in the chest at a track meet, allegedly by 17-year-old Karmelo Anthony from Frisco Centennial High School. (Courtesy Jeff Metcalf)
«Austin is dead. Your family is devastated,» Patton wrote. «That matters. Karmelo Anthony is alive but caged inside a racial imagination that had already convicted him. And that matters, too. Two families are shattered. And a whole country is using the tragedy to rehearse the same old script about Black guilt and white innocence.»
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Patton defended her opinion piece as a «critique of racial power» and said that she was not, «blaming a dead child, attacking a grieving father, excusing violence, and rejecting the legal system.»
«My argument is simple: Black children are children,» Patton said. «They do not become monsters because white America needs one, and their humanity is not up for debate because a verdict has been rendered.»
«Now, run along and feed your propaganda machine,» she added, declining to answer several of Fox News Digital’s questions. «I’m sure it’s hungry for another Black woman’s words to mutilate. That is my statement.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Howard University and Metcalf’s family for comment.
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Patton’s Substack piece is the latest in a growing chorus of voices arguing that the murder case is rooted in race.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, questioned on her podcast whether Karmelo Anthony’s race played a role in his conviction. Crockett asked whether Anthony received a fair trial, spreading a false claim that all jurors were white and that could have impacted their ability to be impartial.
«I’m not necessarily convinced — not that I could tell you the name of one person on this jury — that we had 12 impartial white folk out of Collin County sitting on a jury for this young black man,» Crockett said.
Crocket also suggested black mothers have faced far greater agony on a day-to-day basis than the victim’s family.
«Black women, especially black women who have black male children, live in fear and agony every single day,» she lamented. «A fear and agony that I promise you the Metcalfs probably had never spend a day living that way.»
politics, parents, trials, homicide, campus controversy, crime
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Quién era el Niño Guerrero, el líder del grupo criminal venezolano Tren de Aragua que murió en un operativo militar de EE.UU.
Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, conocido como el Niño Guerrero, fue durante más de una década el rostro temido del Tren de Aragua, la banda criminal venezolana que sembró terror en América latina y extendió sus tentáculos hasta Estados Unidos y Europa.
Este viernes, su historia terminó de manera abrupta: el presidente estadounidense Donald Trump confirmó que fuerzas del Comando Sur lo mataron en una operación “rápida y letal” en territorio venezolano.
Según detalló Trump, el operativo contó con la colaboración de “amigos de Venezuela” y puso fin a la carrera del hombre que, desde 2025, figuraba en la lista de sancionados del Departamento del Tesoro de EE.UU . Para Washington, el Tren de Aragua ya no era solo una pandilla: lo consideraban una organización terrorista extranjera y una amenaza directa para la seguridad regional.
Así lo comunicó en una publicación en la red Truth Social, en la que también compartió un video de diez segundos. Las imágenes tomadas desde una vista aérea muestran la explosión de un edificio con el techo de color verde, donde habría estado el criminal.
Las imágenes del ataque al lider del cartel narco El Tren de Aragua. (Video: Truth Social).
“Los terroristas del Tren de Aragua ya no tienen refugio seguro en Venezuela ni en ningún otro lugar y, bajo mi liderazgo, encontraremos a estos despiadados asesinos y narcotraficantes en cualquier momento y lugar, los enviaremos al infierno, donde pertenecen”, escribió Trump.
Venezuela confirmó poco después que Héctor Rusthenford Guerrero Flores había sido “neutralizado” y que hubo “enfrentamientos” con integrantes de “estructuras de delincuencia organizada”.
De la cárcel de Tocorón al dominio criminal internacional
El Niño Guerrero forjó su imperio criminal desde el Centro Penitenciario de Aragua, más conocido como la cárcel de Tocorón.
Pero su vida allí distaba mucho de la de un preso común. Según investigaciones de la periodista Ronna Rísquez, el penal tenía piscina, zoológico, campo de béisbol, sala de apuestas, banco, puestos de comida y hasta una discoteca llamada “Tokio”, donde se presentaban artistas famosos. «Niño Guerrero» era el líder del cartel narcoterrorista Tren de Aragua. (Foto: El País)
Desde ese lugar, Guerrero Flores manejaba el Tren de Aragua con mano de hierro. Impuso el cobro de la “causa”, una cuota semanal que debían pagar los más de 5000 reclusos para sostener la infraestructura del penal y el nivel de vida de los líderes.
Se estima que ese sistema de extorsión generaba unos 3,5 millones de dólares al año. Quienes no pagaban sufrían castigos brutales: violencia, privación de alimentos o dormir a la intemperie.
La impunidad era tal que, según Rísquez, el Niño Guerrero salía de la cárcel cuando quería, con la complicidad de las autoridades. Incluso, se lo vio navegando en yate por las playas venezolanas. La cárcel tenía desde un boliche hasta una pileta. (Foto: X/@runrunesweb).
Según el centro de análisis Insight Crime, «Niño Guerrero“, que tendría 42 años, convirtió el grupo “en lo que es hoy durante su encarcelamiento en Tocorón”.
El salto a la “multinacional del crimen”
Bajo el mando de Guerrero Flores, el Tren de Aragua dejó de ser una banda local para convertirse en una organización criminal transnacional. La crisis migratoria venezolana fue la herramienta utilizada por la organización para extenderse por Sudamérica.
En los últimos años llevó sus operaciones a Colombia, Perú, Chile, Brasil, México, España y Estados Unidos.
Sus delitos iban desde el narcotráfico y la trata de personas con fines de explotación sexual, hasta secuestros, homicidios, lavado de dinero con criptomonedas y tráfico de armas.
La Justicia estadounidense lo acusaba de actuar en coordinación con el Cártel de los Soles, una red de narcotráfico integrada, según Washington, por altos funcionarios venezolanos. En el Distrito Sur de Nueva York, lo señalaron como facilitador del envío de toneladas de cocaína a EE.UU.
La fuga de Tocorón y la caída final
La aparente impunidad del Niño Guerrero quedó en evidencia en septiembre de 2023, cuando 11.000 efectivos venezolanos intervinieron la cárcel de Tocorón.
Sin embargo, el líder criminal escapó antes del operativo a través de una red de túneles de cinco kilómetros que desembocaba en el lago de Valencia. La fuga alimentó las sospechas de complicidad estatal.
Desde entonces, Guerrero Flores permanecía prófugo, con órdenes de captura en varios países y recompensas millonarias ofrecidas por gobiernos como el de Perú.
El Departamento de Estado de EE.UU . ofrecía desde julio de 2024 hasta 5 millones de dólares por información que permitiera su captura.
En la Argentina, y sieguiendo la política de Trump, el gobierno de Javier Milei declaró al Tren de Aragua como organización terrorista en febrero de 2025. “La organización Tren de Aragua representa una amenaza seria y multifacética para la seguridad nacional”, argumentó el decreto firmado por el Presidente.
Venezuela, Narcotráfico, narcos
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Woman airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after shark attack at popular Sydney beach
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A 30-year-old woman was rushed to a hospital Saturday with serious injuries after being attacked by a shark at a Sydney beach, the latest in a string of recent shark attacks off Australia’s coast.
Officials said emergency crews responded to Coogee Beach on Saturday morning following reports that a swimmer had been bitten.
The woman was airlifted to a hospital for treatment, police said in a statement.
«The woman was pulled from the water by members of the public who commenced first aid,» police said.
AUSTRALIAN TEENAGER DIES IN DEVASTATING SHARK ATTACK, NEARLY 100 YARDS FROM POPULAR BEACH: REPORT
Police and emergency personnel at the scene after reports of a shark attack at Coogee Beach in Sydney, Australia, June 13, 2026. (REUTERS/Hollie Adams)
Authorities said she suffered serious injuries to her arm and leg.
Coogee Beach and two nearby beaches were closed following the attack.
The incident comes amid a recent series of fatal shark attacks across Australia.
SHARK ATTACK DEATHS SURGE ABOVE DECADE AVERAGE IN 2025
A lifeguard and a NSW Police boat patrol Coogee Beach following a shark attack in Sydney, Australia, June 13, 2026. (REUTERS/Hollie Adams)
Last week, officials said a 35-year-old fisherman was killed by a suspected shark measuring nearly 15 feet long off the coast of Western Australia.
The man was spearfishing near Michaelmas Island, a protected sand cay near Albany.
On May 24, 39-year-old Michael Jensz was killed after suffering fatal injuries during a suspected bull shark attack while spearfishing along the Great Barrier Reef.
‘LARGE SHARK’ KILLS MAN AT AUSTRALIAN BEACH, WITH WITNESS DESCRIBING HEARING SCREAMS OF ‘DON’T BITE ME!’
Lifeguards erect a sign that says «Beach Closed» following a shark attack at Coogee Beach in Sydney, Australia, June 13, 2026 (REUTERS/Hollie Adams)
Just days earlier, on May 16, 38-year-old Steve Mattabonni was killed in a suspected great white shark attack near Rottnest Island, a popular tourist destination off Western Australia.
Earlier this year, a 12-year-old also died following a shark attack in Sydney Harbour.
Dozens of beaches along Australia’s east coast were temporarily closed in January after four shark attacks were reported over a two-day period.
Officials said heavy rain had created murky water conditions that may have attracted sharks while reducing visibility.
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Police and emergency personnel at the scene after reports of a shark attack at Coogee Beach in Sydney, Australia, June 13, 2026. (REUTERS/Hollie Adams)
Australia averages about 20 shark attacks each year, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson and Reuters contributed to this report.
australia regions, sharks, odd news, australia, beach
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