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 $2 Million Mint Kentucky Turf Sprint (G2), a “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In” Race, and The $2 Million Never Say Die Ladies Turf Sprint (G2)
STAMFORD, Conn. – Aug. 28, 2025 – 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.
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.
NBC SPORTS AND HORSE RACING
NBC Sports is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series.
ABOUT BREEDERS’ CUP
Breeders’ Cup Limited administers the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Thoroughbred racing’s year-end Championships, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, which provides automatic starting positions into the Championships races through partnerships with host countries around the globe, and the U.S.-based Dirt Dozen Bonus Series.
The 2025 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, featuring 14 Grade 1 Championship races run during a two-day festival worth more than $34 million in purses and awards, will be held Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar in Del Mar, California. The 2026 World Championships will be held Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky, and the 2027 World Championships will be held Oct. 29-30 at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. The Championships will be televised live by NBC Sports. Press releases appear on the Breeders’ Cup website, BreedersCup.com. You can also follow the Breeders’ Cup on social media.
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