A historic number of people tuned in to watch Golden Tempo’s win at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
The iconic horse race at Churchill Downs averaged 19.6 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, the network announced Sunday. That made it the most-watched Kentucky Derby on record. Viewership peaked at about 24.4 million viewers during the race, which was also the largest audience for an NBC broadcast of the Derby.
By comparison, Sovereignty’s win at last year’s Kentucky Derby averaged about 17.7 million viewers and peaked at about 21.8 million.
Golden Tempo was in last place as the pack made the final turn before rallying all the way back and broke open along the outside to pick up the stunning win. Golden Tempo went off at 23-1 odds.
The win was also historic for trainer Cherie DeVaux. She became the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby, and had quite the reaction as Golden Tempo pulled out the victory.
“I don’t even have any words right now,” DeVaux said. “Jose did a wonderful job, masterful job at getting him there. He was so far out of it and he has had so much faith in this horse.”
Golden Tempo was invited to run in the Preakness Stakes in two weeks, though it’s unclear if it’ll do so. Two of the last four Kentucky Derby winners have opted out of that race. The last horse to pull off the Triple Crown was Justify in 2018.
