FanDuel TV ends 26-year Kentucky Derby preview show, exits racing coverage

For Derby fans, the first cup of coffee on track mornings is losing a familiar companion. FanDuel TV is ending Breakfast at the Kentucky Derby after 26 years, a run that turned the Churchill Downs early-session into must-watch Derby Week television and gave viewers a front-row seat to final workouts, barn chatter and the voices that made the mornings feel bigger than the clock.

The move is part of a broader pullback from horse-racing coverage that began when the network started life as TVG in 1999. FanDuel TV is reportedly phasing out horse-racing studio productions starting in summer 2026 and plans to wind down its cable-channel operations by the end of 2027, with more than 100 jobs expected to be cut. The National Turf Writers and Broadcasters responded with an open letter to FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment, calling the phaseout deeply disappointing and warning about the effect on racing coverage.

The loss lands hard in Louisville because Breakfast at the Kentucky Derby had become part of the week’s rhythm at Churchill Downs. In 2025, the show aired live from the track each morning from April 25 through May 1, running from 7:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. ET with Michael Joyce hosting alongside Simon Bray and Joe Talamo. Reporting from the backstretch and grandstand came from Andie Biancone, Gabby Gaudet, Caton Bredar, Scott Hazelton and Maria Montgomery, a lineup that gave the show its easy, insider feel.

FanDuel TV had said in February that it would again broadcast from Churchill Downs for the popular morning show in the week leading into the Derby, alongside its Road to the Kentucky Derby prep-race coverage. That made the retreat sting even more as Churchill Downs’ own 2026 schedule filled out around the 152nd Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 2. The official Derby Week guide listed Opening Day for April 25, Sunday Funday for April 26, the first Sunday racing day of Derby Week since 2010, and Dawn at the Downs beginning Monday, April 27 at 7 a.m.

The same week also marked another break in the old order. Churchill Downs announced on April 3 that veteran morning-line oddsmaker Mike Battaglia would retire after setting Kentucky Derby odds since 1974, correctly naming the Derby favorite 39 times in 51 runnings. Nick Tammaro will succeed him, and Churchill Downs planned to honor Battaglia during the racing program on Sunday, April 26. Between Battaglia’s retirement and FanDuel TV’s exit, Derby Week lost two of its most recognizable fixtures at once.