Toby Keith's horse Render Judgment set to compete in Kentucky Derby
Toby Keith's horse Render Judgment is set to race in the 151st Kentucky Derby on Saturday.
The legendary race will take place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, and will see the late country singer's thoroughbred, which he partially owned, competing in the annual run.
A post shared on Keith's Facebook page on April 26, which included a photo of Render Judgment, noted that it was Keith's dream to see his horse race in the Derby.
"He worked so hard to finally have one there! Toby will have the best seat in the house to watch," the caption read.
Keith, who died of stomach cancer in February 2024, founded Dream Walkin' Farms, an Oklahoma-based thoroughbred breeding and racing operation, in 2001.
In a 2019 interview published on the Derby's official Facebook page, Keith called horse racing "exhilarating."
"When you're standing out there on the balcony or down by the winners circle, they come pounding by," he said at the time. "It's a surreal, live kind of thing."
"The Derby's the one you want to win," he added. "That's the one that everybody wants to hang on their walls, saying, 'I won the Kentucky Derby.' But God, it's hard to get there."
Ahead of Derby weekend, Keith's daughter Krystal Keith took to Instagram to write about her dad's horse competing in the race.
"My dad dreamed of having his horses in the Kentucky Derby for over 30 years," she wrote. "Here he is still making his dreams come true from his castle in the sky."
She continued, "My dad could never decide which passion was greater, music or horse racing. He could have had a PhD in horse pedigrees."
"What an incredible journey we've been on to get here," she added. "Win or lose, he made it to the Derby and that for me is everything. Give 'em hell RJ!"
The Kentucky Derby takes place Saturday, May 3, and is scheduled for approximately 6:57 p.m. ET.
