Golden Tempo's win at Churchill Downs was the most-watched Kentucky Derby on record

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 this spring, the network announced on Sunday. That made it the most-watched Kentucky Derby on record. Viewership peaked at about 24.4 million viewers during the race, too, which was also the largest ever audience for an NBC broadcast of the Kentucky 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 viewers.

Golden Tempo was in last place as the pack made the final turn, but the horse rallied all the way back and broke open along the outside to pick up the stunning win at the Kentucky Derby. Golden Tempo went off at 23-1 odds, too.

The win was also historic for trainer Cherie DeVaux. She became the first female trainer to ever win the Kentucky Derby, and had quite the reaction as Golden Tempo pulled out the win.

“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 back in 2018.