Get as excited as Frankie Dettori was after winning the 2024 Nashville Derby aboard Bellum Justum. (Kurtis Coady/Coady Media)
Saturday Live from Kentucky Downs at 4 P.M. ET on NBC and Peacock
NBC Sports Release
STAMFORD, Conn. –– 2025 Belmont Derby (G1) winner Test Score, 2025 Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman, and 2025 Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Burnham Square headline NBC Sports’ live coverage of the $3.5 million Nashville Derby (G3) this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock from Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.
Saturday’s live coverage will also include the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In” $2 million Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint (G2), as well as the $2 million Never Say Die Ladies Turf Sprint (G2). The winner of the Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint will earn an automatic berth into this year’s $1 million Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1).
Featuring 93 races in 15 countries this year – the most in Breeders’ Cup history – the series leads to the 42nd Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in Del Mar, Calif., on Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The complete series TV schedule can be accessed here.
> 2025 Belmont Derby (G1) Winner Test Score expected to run in Saturday’s Nashville Derby (G3)
> Arkansas Derby (G1) Winner Sandman and Blue Grass Stakes (G1) Winner Burnham Square are expected to make their debuts on grass in Saturday’s race
> Live coverage also features the $2M Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint (G2), a “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In”, and the $2M Never Say Die Ladies Turf Sprint (G2)
With a $2 million base purse and another $1.5 million available to Kentucky-bred runners from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, the Nashville Derby at 1 5/16 miles is America’s richest turf race outside the Breeders’ Cup. The offered purse makes it the most lucrative race held at one track behind the $5 million Kentucky Derby, with its $2 million base purse matching the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.
NBC Sports’ coverage will be led by analysts Randy Moss and Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, winner of 15 Breeders’ Cup races, with Britney Eurton and Nick Luck reporting from Kentucky Downs.
2025 Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Tiztastic and 2025 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) winner Final Gambit are also expected to run in the 1 5/16-mile Nashville Derby.
I know you study the form with great intensity. I know that you watch numerous replays. Now you are actually interviewing the horses ? Talk about being thorough ! You are unequaled.
