For the connections who know her best, when Always a Runner moved into position for the stretch run of the $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks May 1 at Churchill Downs, there could only be one possible outcome for a filly who always finds a way.
Few athletes, human or equine, ever burst onto the national scene as quickly as Steve Cauthen.
In 1977, one year after he began riding, he paced all jockeys with 487 victories and emerged as the first to earn as much as $6 million in purses in a single season. In 1978, “The Kid” gained the distinction of being the youngest jockey to win the Triple Crown as his precocious talent helped Affirmed repel Alydar in one of the fiercest rivalries any sport has known.
Each week, members of the national media vote on the nation's top contenders on the Triple Crown trail in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) Top Thoroughbred Poll.
Barry Irwin, now the head of Team Valor International, was entering his teenage years in Southern California when Swaps burst onto the scene in 1955.
“He just really excited me and caught my imagination,” Irwin recalled.
Irwin was hardly alone. Swaps’ popularity became so enormous that Union 76 gas stations began distributing posters of him. “I kept pushing my father to get gas there so I could get more pictures,” Irwin said.
BloodHorse news editor Byron King presents his final Derby Dozen for 2026, with a look at his leading contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on May 2.
