Donna Brothers has been an integral part of NBC’s Kentucky Derby coverage since it acquired the rights to the race in 2001.
From speaking to trainers and owners on the walkover to the paddock to interviewing the winning jockey on horseback, Brothers has been front and center for some of the most emotional moments of NBC’s horse racing coverage.
Saturday will be Brothers’ final Run for the Roses. She decided two years ago that this would be her last year, but did not announce it publicly until last week.
“I told Lindsay Schanzer, our producer, that I definitely wanted to make it to Kentucky Derby 151 because that would be my 25th Kentucky Derby. But if I had my druthers, I would also like to make it to Derby 152 because then I’ll be 60 years old and I’ll feel like I’ve earned the right to retire,” said Brothers, who turned 60 on April 22. “And so now I have two careers behind me. I retired from being a jockey in 1998.
“There are a lot of people, when I tell ’em I’m going to retire, they seem sad for me. And they’re like, ‘Oh, I know you’re going to miss it.’ And I don’t think that’s going to be the case. I’ve had the second-best seat in the house for 26 years, and I really believe that. I think the best seat in the house is whoever rode the Kentucky Derby winner.”
Brothers is a former jockey who won 1,130 races during her 11-year career. She joined NBC in 2000 for Breeders’ Cup coverage and has been part of the network’s Triple Crown coverage. NBC has had the Preakness Stakes since 2001 and the Belmont Stakes from 2001-05 and 2011-22.
She was the first to interview jockeys Victor Espinoza aboard American Pharaoh in 2015 and Mike Smith on Justify three years later, after they won the Triple Crown.
“Very rarely do you get to work in TV with people who define a role in sports television, and Donna has done that,” said Mike Tirico, who will anchor NBC’s coverage. “The immediate reaction Donna gets race after race, and her observations are such a unique part of what we do in television. And she is one of a kind. Somebody will follow her but will not replace her because she’s irreplaceable.”
When it comes to favorite Derby winner interviews, Brothers said Calvin Borel’s aboard Street Sense in 2007 still stands out.
“I really want to capture what’s in their heart rather than 10 minutes later what’s in their head. And so the ones that stand out the most are the ones that are heartfelt,” she said. “Anyone who saw Calvin win his first Derby, I think, touched everyone’s heart who saw it. And then later that week, he was invited to the White House, and the Queen (Elizabeth II) was in attendance, and so she witnessed his Derby win. As I threw it back to Tom Hammond, I said, ‘You can see a very emotional win for Calvin Borel as the tears are streaming down his face.’ And Tom told me that they hadn’t zoomed in until I said that. The director was obviously listening, and they zoomed in and picked up that emotion. And I think it made everybody feel that same emotion with and for Calvin.”
Brothers has also viewed some of the Derby’s worst moments. She was near the second turn when she saw Eight Belles go down in 2008. The filly broke both her front ankles shortly after crossing the finish line in second place and was euthanized on the track.
Brothers still gets emotional when reflecting on that day, as well as second-guessing the interview she did with jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard Derby winner Big Brown.
“Kent was also upset, and I just said, ‘OK, let’s try to shake it off and concentrate on the fact that you just won the Kentucky Derby.’ And I’m not sure if that was the right thing to do. In hindsight, it might’ve been better to let him address that first, but we didn’t know her status at that time, and we didn’t know it well enough to report on her status,” she said. “In any event, it was challenging because you’re simultaneously heartbroken for the horse that’s on the track. And also simultaneously very happy for this person who just won the Kentucky Derby.”
Brothers is still happy to see jockeys Mike Smith and John Velazquez competing, but also noted that it is a good time for her to walk away.
“I think it’s just time to pass the baton. It’s been an awfully fun ride. But I’m also looking forward to not being in front of the computer for five or six hours a day and doing all the research,” Brothers said. “I’m looking forward to being outside an awful lot, whether that’s hiking or biking or stand-up paddleboarding or golfing, I think it’s just the right time for me.”
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Donna Brothers speaks during a feature for NBC Sports before the Belmont Derby horse race at Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y., in 2012. (Michael Cohen/NBC via AP)
Shares gained in Asia on Friday, though many markets in the region were closed for May Day holidays.
Brent crude’s price held steady at $111.66 per barrel while U.S. benchmark crude oil added 46 cents to $105.53 a barrel.
Prospects for a deal to cement a three-week ceasefire in the Iran wa r remained clouded as Iran’s supreme leader said it will protect its nuclear and missile capabilities as a national asset.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to 59,687.65 as the Japanese yen gained against the U.S. dollar.
The dollar bought 157.16 yen, up from 156.61 yen late Thursday. But that was well below the 160 yen level hit on Thursday.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 surged 1% to 8,750.40.
U.S. futures were higher after U.S stocks motored to more records Thursday on strong profits for Alphabet, Caterpillar and other big businesses. The gains came after the latest whipsaw moves for oil prices, which surged toward their highest levels since the war with Iran began only to quickly regress.
The S&P 500 rallied 1% and topped its prior all-time high to close out its best month in more than five years. It closed at 7,209.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 1.6% to 49,652.14, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.9% to a record of 24,892.31.
Alphabet led the way and rallied 10% after the owner of Google and YouTube reported profit for the latest quarter that almost doubled analysts’ expectations. Investments in artificial intelligence “are lighting up every part of the business,” CEO Sundar Pichai said.
It’s the latest company to deliver fatter profits for the start of 2026 than analysts expected, even with very high oil prices and uncertainty about the economy.
Friday brought some calm to the oil market, where prices surged Thursday on worries over the potential long-term impact of the war on the flow of crude. Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz to oil tankers, keeping them pent up in the Persian Gulf and away from customers worldwide, while a U.S. Navy blockade is preventing Iran from selling its own oil.
Traders are buying and selling contracts for different kinds of oil, going out for many months. In the most actively traded part of the market for Brent crude, for delivery in July, the price rose as high as $114.70 per barrel, fell back toward $107 and settled at $110.40 on Thursday, nearly unchanged from the day before.
So far during the war, the peak price for the most actively traded Brent contract has been $119.50, which was set last month.
In a less actively traded corner of the Brent market, the price for a barrel to be delivered in June briefly went above $126 overnight before pulling back toward $114.
Brent’s price was roughly $70 before the war.
In share trading, Caterpillar soared 9.9%, Eli Lilly jumped 9.8% and O’Reilly Automotive leaped 8.4% after all delivered profits for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. That’s big because stock prices tend to follow the track of corporate profits over the long term.
Meta Platforms tumbled 8.7% even though the company behind Facebook and Instagram made more profit last quarter than expected. Investors focused more on its increased forecast for how much it will spend on data centers and other investments as it builds out its AI capabilities.
Doubts are still high among some investors about whether all the spending on AI will produce enough profit and productivity to make it worth it.
Microsoft fell 3.9% after likewise raising its forecast for investments and other capital spending.
Amazon rose 0.8% after swinging between gains and losses through the day. It blew past analysts’ expectations for earnings in the latest quarter.
In the bond market, Treasury yields eased after oil prices fell back. Reports also suggested the U.S. economy’s growth accelerated by less in the first three months of the year than economists expected, while a measure of inflation worsened in March by about as much as expected.
A separate report said that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week in an indication of fewer layoffs even though companies are announcing large cuts to workforces.
London’s FTSE 100 jumped 1.6% after the Bank of England kept its main interest rate on hold. That followed similar decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday and the Bank of Japan on Tuesday to keep their rates unchanged.
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AP Business Writers Stan Choe and Matt Ott contributed to this report.
Trader Derek Orth works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Specialist Anthony Matesic works at his post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
From left, NASA's Artemis II astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover, and Jeremy Hansen watch a replay of their ringing of the closing bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite, in New York's Times Square, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
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A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
