Skip to main content
Join Now
Team Avatar
North Carolina

Bill Belichick, Jordon Hudson dress up, walk track at Kentucky Derby

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh05/02/26griffin_mcveigh

Some of the biggest names in sports are at Churchill Downs on Saturday afternoon. This will mark the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby, one of the best events on the calendar. People flock to see the historic race, and even those who have been before need another taste of the action.

Such as North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick. He arrived with his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. The two dressed up quite nicely for the occasion and even got to walk the track. Hudson shared a captured moment on Instagram.

She even included a caption saying, “Not the first time we’ve trudged through the mud together.” At the end were three emojis — a handshake, a heart, and a horse. You can check out the full thing, posted by Yahoo Sports on X, here.

Of course, the main gold in Belichick is putting together a better on-field product at North Carolina for the 2026 season. This will be his second year running a college football program after a legendary professional career. But ’25 did not go to plan, finishing 4-8. The Tar Heels did not make a bowl game.

For now, the offseason still brings some fun experiences. Hopefully, Belichick knows horse racing as good as he does football and can pick the winning horse.

More on the 2026 Kentucky Derby

The odds remain extremely tight for the Kentucky Derby as post time approaches. Without a clear favorite on the board, bettors have selected a group of horses with the best chance. Renegade and Commandment headline that group, along with late entry Chief Wallabee, feel-good story So Happy and strong Kentucky performer Further Ado. Japanese horse Danon Bourbon, along with Wonder Dean, hold the opportunity to become the first horse from the country to win the Run for the Roses.

The Kentucky Derby will kick off the most exciting stretch of the horse racing calendar, serving as the first leg in the Triple Crown. Two weeks later, the top thoroughbreds will travel to the Preakness, with the Belmont scheduled three weeks after in June.

13 horses have ever won all three races in the Triple Crown, starting with Sir Barton in 1919. After a run of successful bids in the 1930s and 1940s, there was a long gap to Secretariat in 1973. 1977 and 1978 got the only ever back-to-back Triple Crown runs from Seattle Slew and Affirmed.

There was then a long gap to American Pharaoh, the next horse to achieve the feat in 2015. Justify became the latest to win the Triple Crown in 2018, giving way to another gap that continues today.

On3’s James Fletcher contributed to this report