LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Trainer Chad Brown got the scary call last fall that Always a Runner had a serious case of pneumonia, something that would keep her from racing as a 2-year-old.
“This filly was struggling,” Brown said. “Her career was really up in the air.”
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Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Always a Runner, front left, ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks followed by Meaning (5) ridden by Juan J. Hernandez horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
After more than a month in a veterinary clinic and treatment with a hyperbaric chamber, she began her racing career in February. On Friday night, Always a Runner showed her toughness once again by winning the Kentucky Oaks against some of the best 3-year-old fillies around in the 152nd edition of the race and the first run under the lights in prime time at Churchill Downs.
“This filly is very resilient, very tough,” Brown said after winning the Oaks for the first time. “She didn’t have to be here today. She didn’t have to run again. She could have never run, easily. I’ve had it happen with several horses. The fact that not only did she overcome it and ended up here today as an undefeated horse in the Oaks is just remarkable.”
Ridden by Jose Ortiz, Always a Runner made a move around the final turn and needed every bit of the stretch to pass Bob Baffert’s Explora and and Michael McCarthy’s Meaning before the finish line of the 1 1/8-mile race.
Meaning was second by 1 1/4 lengths and Counting Stars third. Always a Runner finished in 1:48.62 and paid $13.04 to win, $7.46 to place and $5.44 to show.
“We were there every step of the way,” McCarthy said. “Kudos to Chad, that filly came running. We were second best.”
Always a Runner impressed Ortiz, who had never ridden her in a race before the Oaks — just a morning workout. She's now 3 for 3.
“Chad was very confident in her,” said Ortiz, who won five races on Friday at Churchill Downs. "He knew what he had. He told me, ‘Just go out there, get to know her in the work and you’re going to feel like a sports car, like she’s a Ferrari.’ And he was right. I loved the way she worked, and here we are. We won.”
Brown will try to pull off the Oaks- Kentucky Derby double on Saturday with Emerging Market, who also had pneumonia as a 2-year-old and has only raced twice. He has also never won the Derby.
“I stick with things that are working," Brown said. “So, two starts, we should be good.”
The first night Kentucky Oaks was one for the history books, but also took place in front of large swaths of empty seats. Many of the 100,000-plus fans who filled the grandstand and the track from the late morning through the afternoon had departed before sunset. The Oaks has typically been run before 6 p.m.
“For me it’s just a very long day,” Ortiz said. “It was just amazing. Good vibe. It’s for the public. If they have fun, it’s good to me.”
Brown lamented not being able to get presented with the trophy in the infield, the tradition for the Oaks and the Derby that was moved to the paddock because of the time. Other than that, he had no complaints.
“It was a really cool experience, and it’s nice to utilize this facility with the lights and all and I would definitely do it again. Obviously, my horse ran terrific,” Brown said. “(The ceremony) was the only negative. Everything else about it was an incredible experience today with this post time.”
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Always a Runner, front left, ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks followed by Meaning (5) ridden by Juan J. Hernandez horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Always a Runner (9) ridden by Jose L. Ortiz wins the 152nd running of the Kentucky Oaks horse race at Churchill Downs, Friday, May 1, 2026, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
PARIS (AP) — Activists worldwide held May Day rallies and street protests on Friday, calling for peace, higher wages and better working conditions as many workers grapple with rising energy costs and shrinking purchasing power tied to the Iran war.
May 1 is a public holiday in many countries to mark International Workers’ Day, or Labor Day, when workers’ unions traditionally rally around wages, pensions, inequality and broader political issues. Demonstrations were held across Asia — from South Korea to Australia and Indonesia — to many European capitals. In the United States, activists opposing President Donald Trump’s policies also held marches and boycotts.
“Working people refuse to pay the price for Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East,” the European Trade Union Confederation, which represents 93 trade union organizations in 41 European countries, said. “Today’s rallies show working people will not stand by and see their jobs and living standards destroyed.”
What to know about May Day:
Rising living costs linked to the conflict in the Middle East was as a key theme in Friday’s rallies.
On a main avenue in Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, taxi drivers honked their horns and bus drivers parked their vehicles to protest rising fuel costs.
“All my expenses have gone up, but my wages haven’t budged,” Akherraz Lhachimi of the Moroccan Labor Union said.
Several rallies were staged in South Africa, where the head of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, Zingiswa Losi, said workers were “suffocating” under rising costs of food, electricity, transportation and healthcare.
Turkish authorities in Istanbul detained hundreds of demonstrators for attempting to march in areas declared off-limits on security grounds, most notably central Taksim Square, the epicenter of 2013 protests. May Day rallies in Turkey are frequently marred by clashes with authorities.
A demonstration in Santiago, Chile, ended with vandalism and clashes between protesters and police, who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Several thousand people gathered across Portugal as unions rallied together to protest proposed changes to labor laws that include making worker dismissals easier and reducing miscarriage bereavement leave.
“It’s the only voice we have,” public sector worker Paulo Domingues said of the protests.
May Day carries special meaning this year in France, after a heated debate about whether employees should be allowed to work on the country’s most protected public holiday — the only day when most employees have a mandatory paid day off.
Tens of thousands of people joined marches across the country, including in Paris, where brief scuffles with police broke out.
Almost all businesses, shops and malls were closed, and only essential sectors such as hospitals, transport and hotels were exempt.
A recent parliamentary proposal to expand work on the day prompted major outcry from unions and left-wing politicians.
Faced with the dispute, the government this week introduced a bill that would allow bakeries and florists to open. It is customary in France to give lily of the valley flowers on May Day as a symbol of good luck.
“May 1 is not just any day,” Small and Medium-sized Businesses Minister Serge Papin said. “It symbolizes social gains stemming from a century of building social rules that have led to the labor code we know in France.”
In the U.S., where May Day is not a federal holiday, May Day Strong, a coalition of activist groups and labor unions, urged people to protest under the banner of “workers over billionaires” and called for an economic blackout through “no school, no work, no shopping.”
Many demonstrators voiced opposition to Trump’s policies, including his immigration crackdown.
“We’re seeing tons and tons of attacks on working people and on oppressed communities from the Trump administration, both at home and abroad,” said Kathryn Stender, an activist with the Party for Socialism and Liberation who was among thousands at a rally in a Chicago park.
The atmosphere there was festive, with Native American dancers, mariachi bands and monarch butterfly signs, which have become a symbol of the immigrant rights movement.
Protesters blocked a road outside the international terminal at San Francisco’s airport, leading to the street’s closure for about two hours. Authorities warned passengers to allow for extra travel time.
Several state and city elected officials were arrested, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani addressed a largely supportive crowd at a Manhattan rally organized by unions and immigrant advocates. He reiterated his promise to raise taxes on the wealthy and “protect our neighbors from the cruelty of ICE,” or Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Police arrested multiple people at a protest outside the New York Stock Exchange, but authorities didn't have an exact count or information on charges. Video showed some protesters tried to chain themselves to a railing. One struggled with officers.
While labor and immigrant rights are historically intertwined, the focus of May Day rallies in the U.S. shifted to immigration in 2006. That’s when roughly 1 million people, including nearly half a million in Chicago alone, took to the streets to protest federal legislation that would have made living in the U.S. without legal permission a felony.
May Day, or International Workers’ Day, traces back more than a century to a pivotal period in U.S. labor history.
In the 1880s, unions pushed for an eight-hour workday. A Chicago rally in May 1886 turned deadly when a bomb exploded and police responded with gunfire. Several labor activists — most of them immigrants — were convicted of conspiracy and other charges; four were executed.
Unions later designated May 1 to honor workers. A monument in Chicago’s Haymarket Square commemorates them with the inscription: “Dedicated to all workers of the world.”
Associated Press journalists from around the world contributed to this report.
Supervisor Connie Chan is arrested as she stands with other demonstrators blocking the road in front of San Francisco International terminal during ICE Out of San Francisco protest at SFO on May Day at San Francisco International Airport on Friday, May 1, 2026, in San Francisco. (Lea Suzuki/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Demonstrators march during a May Day rally in New York, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
People march during a May Day rally in Chicago, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
People hold hands at Union park for a May Day rally in Chicago, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Turkish, right, and Greek Cypriots gathering s they marking May Day inside the U.N. buffer zone at Ledra Palace hotel in the divided capital of Nicosia, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
People gather before a May Day rally in Chicago, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
An effigy of U.S. President Donald Trump burns during an International Workers' Day march marking May Day in Panama City, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Members of trade unions take part in a May Day rally in Tsakane, east of Johannesburg, South Africa, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Protesters march during the May Day demonstration in Rennes, western France, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo)
A man holds a picture or former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro wearing a prison uniform during a May Day rally demanding greater labor rights in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Protesters march during the May Day demonstration in Paris, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
An union member is detained by a Turkish police officer as people try to march towards Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 1, 2026, during Labor Day celebrations. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stage a rally on May Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions stage a rally on May Day in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Union members scuffle with Turkish police officers as they try to march towards Taksim square in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 1, 2026, during Labor Day celebrations. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
Union members carefully step through rain-formed puddles to participate in a May Day rally in the rain Friday, May 1, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
People march to mark International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, in Sydney, Friday, May 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
FILE - Activist and workers raise their clenched fists during a May Day rally in Manila, Philippines, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)
Laborers protest during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Laborers hold flares during a May Day demonstration in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)
Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. The banner in center reading as 'red salute to the martyrs of Chicago and the struggle will continue until economic exploitation is ended' (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
Members of trade unions take part in a rally a day ahead of the International Labor Day, in Karachi, Pakistan, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ali Raza)
