What Wathnan Racing Taught Us About Losing at the Kentucky Derby
Commandment was supposed to win the Kentucky Derby 2026.
The Brad Cox-trained colt arrived at Churchill Downs as the Road to the Kentucky Derby points leader, fresh off four consecutive wins including the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Florida Derby. He was among the co-favourites at 6-1 on the morning line. By almost every measure — form, prep race sequence, speed figures — he was one of the few horses in the field with the profile of a genuine Derby winner.
He finished seventh.
If you had Commandment in your tickets on Derby Day, you know the feeling. And if you were watching what his connections did next, you witnessed something genuinely rare in sport.
Video Credit: Wathnan Racing (@wathnan_racing) on Instagram
The Race That Nobody Predicted
The 152nd Kentucky Derby turned out to be one of the most dramatic renewals of the Run for the Roses in living memory. Golden Tempo, sent off at 23-1, was dead last through the early stages of the race. As the field turned for home, he was still buried in 13th place in an 18-horse field.
Then jockey Jose Ortiz found daylight on the outside.
What followed was a last-to-first surge that left Churchill Downs stunned. Golden Tempo edged out Renegade — ridden by Jose's brother Irad Ortiz Jr. — at the wire, in one of the tightest and most emotional finishes the race has ever produced.
The story, though, was Cherie DeVaux. By training the winner, she became the first female trainer in the history of the Kentucky Derby to saddle a Run for the Roses champion. In 152 runnings of the most celebrated horse race on the planet, it had never been done before.
It was, by any measure, a result worth celebrating — even if your horse finished seventh.
Leaning Into the Loss
That's exactly what Wathnan Racing did.
Rather than going quiet — the default response of most sporting organisations after a disappointing result — they put out a video saluting DeVaux, Ortiz and Golden Tempo. They acknowledged the magnitude of what had just happened. They were gracious, sporting, and genuine.
The response was extraordinary.
According to Geoffrey Riddle, who heads up social media at Wathnan Racing, the post became their most successful video of 2026 across every metric: views, shares, likes, new followers, reach into the US audience, and engagement from female sports fans. The comments section filled up with tributes to the gesture.
"Much respect to this post — sportsmanship still needs to be the root of every sport," wrote one commenter.
"A gracious and lovely post, Wathnan Racing. Commandment is a beautiful horse and deserved his shot at the Roses. Many, many wins lie in your future," said another.
"Classy," wrote a third. "We need more of this in the world."
Why This Matters for Racing Fans
Horse racing is different from most sports when it comes to losing. Every punter knows that the favourite doesn't win the Kentucky Derby more often than it does — Golden Tempo's victory was the eighth consecutive year the market leader failed to take the race. Commandment was well-beaten, but he ran in the world's most famous race with a legitimate chance of winning it. That's not failure — that's the sport.
Wathnan Racing understood something that too many teams and organisations miss: the story doesn't end when the result comes in. How you respond to a tough loss — especially in a race with a narrative as powerful as this one — is its own opportunity. The first female trainer to win the Derby. Two brothers finishing first and second on the biggest stage in American racing. A 23-1 longshot coming from the clouds to claim the roses.
Being part of that story, even from seventh place, is something to acknowledge.
Bet the Stories, Not Just the Favourites
If the 2026 Kentucky Derby taught us anything — and it's a lesson worth carrying into every race card — it's that the horses and connections who show up and compete deserve your attention long after the final results are posted.
At MyWinners, America’s home of horse racing betting, we're here for the long game. Come into a venue or bet online, and you'll find races worth caring about every single day — not just on the first Saturday in May.
The favourites don't always win. But the stories are always worth watching.
Bet online at app.mywinners.com, on the MyWinners: Racing & Sports app on iOS or Android, or go here to find your nearest MyWinners or Winners venue in CT.
Frequently Asked Questions
Golden Tempo, trained by Cherie DeVaux and ridden by Jose Ortiz, won the 152nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 2, 2026, at odds of 23-1.
Cherie DeVaux is the trainer of Golden Tempo and the first female trainer in history to win the Kentucky Derby, achieving the milestone at the 152nd running of the race in 2026.
Commandment, owned by Wathnan Racing and trained by Brad Cox, entered the race as one of the favourites having topped the Road to the Kentucky Derby standings. He finished seventh on Derby Day at Churchill Downs.
Wathnan Racing is a Qatar-based thoroughbred racing operation representing the Emir of Qatar, with a mission to compete at the highest levels of the sport globally. Commandment was their leading contender in the 2026 Kentucky Derby.
Yes. MyWinners is a Connecticut-licensed pari-mutuel wagering platform operated by Sportech. Online wagering is available to Connecticut residents, and in-venue betting is open to anyone 18 and over at any of the nine Winners locations across the state, including East Haven at 37 Frontage Road.
