The Kentucky Derby is an event for the stars – both equine and human. Making it to the race is a dream of horse owners from all walks of life. For example, former Major League Baseball World Series champion Jayson Werth had a Kentucky Derby starter two years in a row in 2024-'25. Last year, influencer Griffin Johnson was part of the ownership group behind Arkansas Derby winner Sandman, who was unplaced in the Derby but finished third in the Preakness.

Werth and Johnson are recent examples of an impressive list of celebrities who’ve been in the Louisville, Ky., spotlight on the first Saturday in May. You might be surprised to learn just how dynamic the list is of other famous horse owners who’ve made the starting gate of the Kentucky Derby.

Griffin Johnson: The 27-year-old content creator, actor, and social media powerhouse (with over 17 million followers) was a minority owner of one of the leading contenders in last year’s Derby in Sandman through ABR’s “A Stake in Stardom Program” with West Point Thoroughbreds. Johnson was introduced to racing in 2024 and just a year later, he was a part of the biggest race in the world. In 2026, Johnson has teamed up with Sandman's trainer, Mark Casse, to enjoy the ride with Southwest Stakes winner Silent Tactic. You can watch Johnson as he chronicles his experiences with Team Casse leading tp to the Kentucky Derby on his Instagram and Tik Tok.

Jayson Werth: Werth co-owned 2025 Derby contender Flying Mohawk, one year after he had his first Derby starter with Dornoch, who finished 10^th before going on to win the Belmont Stakes and Haskell Stakes. Dornoch’s success in 2024 opened the door for Werth to dive deeper into racing as an owner and launch his own racing syndicate, Icon Racing. Flying Mohawk raced under Werth’s original stable name Two Eight Racing, a nod to the #28 Werth wore on his jersey as a player.

Ian Rapoport: Mr. “Rap Sheet” himself became a fan of racing several years ago and in 2023 became a horse owner for the first time. Sure enough, the horse, Jace’s Road, made it to the Kentucky Derby. Like Griffin Johnson, Rapoport became a minority horse owner for the first time via ABR’s A Stake in Stardom program. Although Jace’s Road horse finished 17^th, he took Rapoport on a ride unlike any other.

Lindsay Czarniak: The former ESPN Sportscenter anchor and Fox Sports reporter joined Rapoport in ABR’s A Stake in Stardom program as a co-owner in Jace’s Road and a West Point Thoroughbreds filly named Parnac. Parnac won the Flower Bowl Stakes at Saratoga in 2023. Czarniak has since become a regular at the races and at major racing events like the Eclipse Awards.

Joy Taylor: A national sports media personality – and former co-host to Colin Cowherd on “The Herd” – Taylor also became a Kentucky Derby horse owner in 2023. Not only did she experience the thrill of Jace’s Road competing in the Derby, she also experienced the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita Park in 2023.

Jack Klugman: Best known for his role as Oscar Madison in “The Odd Couple,” Klugman became a big part of Kentucky Derby history when his horse Jaklin Klugman made the starting gate for America’s premier horse race. Klugman finished third behind famed filly Genuine Risk in the 1980 Derby. It stands as one of the best results for any mainstream celebrity-owned horse in Derby history.

Steven Spielberg: A three-time winner of Academy Awards, Spielberg came close himself to taking home a Kentucky Derby trophy. In 2003, Spielberg’s “Biscuit Stables” (a nod to the horse and movie Seabiscuit) purchased a minority interest in a horse named Atswhatimtalknabout. He made an eye-catching late run to finish fourth in a field of 16 horses.

MC Hammer (Wikimedia Commons)

MC Hammer: As much of a TV and film icon Jack Klugman was in the 1970s and as famous as Steven Spielberg became in the 1980s, neither could rival the pop-cultural breakthrough that was MC Hammer in the early 1990s. At the height of his fame, the rapper owned a horse appropriately named Dance Floor. Although he was overlooked in the betting at odds of 33.30-to-1 in the 1992 Kentucky Derby, Dance Floor led for a good portion of the race and ultimately finished third.

George Steinbrenner: Around the same time in New York, George Steinbrenner was putting the finishing touches on what would become a baseball dynasty. By 2005, Steinbrenner’s Yankees had won four World Series (they’d win a fifth in 2009) and the feared executive also had the favorite in that year’s Kentucky Derby. His horse Bellamy Road went off as the betting favorite but came up short and finished seventh. His daughter, Jessica, has carried on the family’s racing and breeding operation based out of the Steinbrenner family farm, Kinsman Stud, in Ocala, Fla.

Joe Torre: You can’t mention the Yankees dynasty without thinking about the manager of those teams. Joe Torre had his four World Series rings locked up by the time he too lived out a dream of owning a horse in the Kentucky Derby. The opportunity came in 2010 with a horse named Homeboykris, who finished 16^th in the race.

Rick Pitino: The Hall of Fame basketball coach entered the world of horse racing while coaching at the University of Kentucky during the 1990s and then even more so when leading the University of Louisville’s program during the 2000s and 2010s. That’s when Pitino bought a small ownership share in Goldencents via his RAP Racing. The horse finished 17^th in the 2013 Kentucky Derby but went on to win twice at the Breeders’ Cup with Pitino still in as co-owner the first time. “Coach P” is now enjoying a late-career renaissance at St. John’s and is still involved in the sport.

Bode Miller: The six-time Olympic medal-winning skier and a two-time World Cup overall champion added the title of “horse owner” to his résumé nearly a decade ago. He bought an interest in a horse named Fast and Accurate in 2017 and the horse went on to compete in the Kentucky Derby. Although Fast and Accurate finished a distant 17^th in the race, Miller previously experienced a Derby high when in 2012 Bodemeister (who was named after Miller) finished second in the race.

Burt Bacharach: An icon of the music industry, the late songwriter and composer was heavily into horse ownership. Burt Bacharach raced or bred at least 15 stakes winners, including six graded stakes winners. In 1994, Bacharach landed a spot in the Kentucky Derby with Soul of the Matter, a horse he owned and bred under his own Blue Seas Music breeding operation. The horse finished a respectable fifth, outrunning his 16.90-to-1 odds.