Steve Kornacki is ditching politics for the day to focus on something important — educating the next generation of Kentucky Derby fans before the biggest race of the year officially begins.
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The NBC correspondent joined the sports-centric side of the company for a special video, which NBC released on Saturday afternoon. He headed to a classroom filled with young children, and he began asking them about "Derby Fever."
The young children responded in different ways. One said that he had Derby Fever while another yelled, 'No way!' Kornacki raised his hand and showed his excitement about the biggest day in horse racing.
He proclaimed that he certainly had Derby Fever.
Next generation of Kentucky Derby analysts loading. 🤩
📺: The 152nd Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/nO6oUzooUQ
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 2, 2026
The lesson continued with Kornacki educating the children about the ages of the horses in the Kentucky Derby. He also told them about the prize for winning the prestigious race. This group of 2- and 3-year-olds didn't necessarily grasp the concept of winning $5 million.
Kornacki and the students then closed out the Derby Fever lesson by attempting to draw some horses with nearby markers.
The correspondent did not simply spend time in the classroom discussing the major event. He also joined the Fantasy Football Happy Hour team to discuss some of the prominent options for race winners.
According to Kornacki, the favorite of Renegade (4-1 odds) faced a difficult task. The horse drew the one-hole, which is not a favorable spot. He said that the horse would have to drop back and fight through traffic to get the Kentucky Derby win.
"Part of me is saying build some tickets around all three Florida horses and just say, 'One of them is going to win this," he said during the sitdown. "You know, (Chief) Wallabee, just looking at sort of where the action is, I think he's the value out of there right now."
