LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq: CHDN) (the "Company", "CDI", "we") announced today that Always A Runner captured the Lilies in the 152nd running of the Longines Kentucky Oaks, topping a field of 13 fillies on fast track conditions. Under the lights of Churchill Downs Racetrack, over 103,000 enthusiastic fans gathered to witness America’s premier race for 3-year-old fillies, highlighted by a spectacular twilight finish.
NBC Sports and Peacock broadcast the Kentucky Oaks in primetime for the first time, marking a significant step in expanding viewership and reaching new audiences.
Wagering from all sources on the full Kentucky Oaks race day card set a new record of $89 million, up 18% from the prior record set in 2024. All-sources wagering on the Kentucky Oaks race was an all-time high of over $29 million, up 29% from last year.
TwinSpires, the official betting partner of the Kentucky Oaks, set a new record of $24 million1, up 24% from the prior record set last year in wagering on Churchill Downs races for the Kentucky Oaks Day program.
Always A Runner, owned by Douglas Scharbauer and Three Chimneys Farm, LLC, trained by Chad Brown, and ridden by Jose Ortiz, covered the 1-1/8th mile in 1:48.82 to win the Longines Kentucky Oaks by 1-¼ lengths at odds of 5-1. Three Chimneys Farm, LLC, bred the daughter of Gun Runner in Kentucky. Always A Runner has lifetime earnings of nearly $1 million.
“We proudly celebrate and congratulate the connections of Always A Runner on her impressive victory,” said Churchill Downs President Mike Anderson. “We are so grateful to our fans, sponsors, horsemen, and horsewomen who made the 152nd Kentucky Oaks a truly memorable event.”
Through the Kentucky Oaks, CDI continued to champion women’s health initiatives, harnessing the event’s platform to make an impact. We welcomed breast and ovarian cancer survivors to walk the historic racetrack prior to the running of Longines Kentucky Oaks for the 18th annual Survivors Parade.
Churchill Downs’ Oaks charitable beneficiaries were Derby Divas, representing the Norton Cancer Institute; Horses and Hope, representing the Kentucky Cancer Program; and new for 2026, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Since its inception, the Oaks Survivors Parade charitable initiative has raised nearly $2 million for women’s health advocacy, providing access to preventive care to underserved women throughout Kentucky, including those who work in the equine industry.
1TwinSpires Horse Racing handle includes all settled future wagers and excludes handle generated by Velocity and national affiliates.
About Churchill Downs Incorporated
Churchill Downs Incorporated ("CDI") (Nasdaq: CHDN) has created extraordinary entertainment experiences for over 150 years, beginning with the company’s most iconic and enduring asset, the Kentucky Derby. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, CDI has expanded through the acquisition, development, and operation of live and historical racing entertainment venues, the growth of the online wagering businesses, and the acquisition, development, and operation of regional casino gaming properties. https://www.churchilldownsincorporated.com/
This news release contains various "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by the use of terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "might," "plan," "predict," "project," "seek," "should," "will," "scheduled," and similar words or similar expressions (or negative versions of such words or expressions), although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Important factors, that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include the following: the occurrence of extraordinary events, such as terrorist attacks, public health threats, civil unrest, and inclement weather, including as a result of climate change; the effect of economic conditions on our consumers' confidence and discretionary spending or our access to credit, including the impact of inflation; changes in, or new interpretations of, applicable tax laws or rulings that could result in additional tax liabilities; the impact of any pandemics, epidemics, or outbreaks of infectious diseases, and related economic matters on our results of operations, financial conditions and prospects; lack of confidence in the integrity of our core businesses or any deterioration in our reputation; negative shifts in public opinion regarding gambling that could result in increased regulation of, or new restrictions on, the gaming industry; loss of key or highly skilled personnel, as well as general disruptions in the general labor market; the impact of significant competition, and the expectation that competition levels will increase; changes in consumer preferences, attendance, wagering, and sponsorships; risks associated with equity investments, strategic alliances and other third-party agreements; inability to respond to rapid technological changes in a timely manner; concentration and evolution of slot machine and historical racing machine ("HRM") manufacturing and other technology conditions that could impose additional costs; failure to enter into or maintain agreements with industry constituents, including horsemen and other racetracks; cybersecurity risk, including cyber-security breaches, or loss or misuse of our confidential information as a result of a breach including customers’ personal information, or IT system operational disruptions, could lead to government enforcement actions or other litigation; costs of compliance with increasingly complex laws and regulations regarding data privacy and protection of personal information; reliance on our technology services and catastrophic events, system failures, errors or defects disrupting our operations; inability to identify, complete, or fully realize the benefits of our proposed acquisitions, divestitures, development of new venues or the expansion of existing facilities on time, on budget, or as planned; difficulty in integrating recent or future acquisitions into our operations; cost overruns and other uncertainties associated with the development of new venues and the expansion of existing facilities; general risks related to real estate ownership and significant expenditures, including risks related to environmental liabilities; personal injury litigation related to injuries occurring at our racetracks; compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or other similar laws and regulations, or applicable anti-money laundering regulations; payment-related risks, such as risk associated with fraudulent credit card or debit card use; work stoppages and labor problems; risks related to pending or future legal proceedings and other actions; highly regulated operations and changes in the regulatory environment could adversely affect our business; restrictions in our debt facilities limiting our flexibility to operate our business; failure to comply with the financial ratios and other covenants in our debt facilities and other indebtedness; increases to interest rates, disruption in the credit markets or changes to our credit ratings may adversely affect our business; increase in our insurance costs, or inability to obtain similar insurance coverage in the future, and any inability to recover under our insurance policies for damages sustained at our properties in the event of inclement weather and casualty events; and other factors described under the heading "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Investor Contact:
Sam Ullrich
(502) 638-3906
Sam.Ullrich@kyderby.com
Media Contact:
Breck Thomas-Ross
(502) 636-4506
Breck.ThomasRoss@kyderby.com
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