All Bets Are On: Will Taylor Swift Or Donald Trump Steal The Show At The Kentucky Derby?

The Kentucky Derby is known for mint juleps, extravagant hats, and surprise celebrity sightings, and this year, the speculation over who might show up at Churchill Downs is already heating up, with Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce leading the pack.

The Action Network just released their celebrity attendance odds for the 151st Kentucky Derby, and it’s not just the horses drawing attention, it’s the A-listers potentially galloping into the spotlight.

Topping the odds at 3/1 (a 25% chance) are President Trump and pop culture power couple Swift and Kelce, both as a duo and individually, per Action Network's report, which was sent to The Blast.

Kelce sits at 4/1, while Swift has separate odds of 5/1, suggesting there’s a strong chance at least one of them could show up, but a public appearance together would send the internet into a tailspin.

In an email sent to The Blast, a spokesperson for The Action Network said, “The Derby isn’t just about horses, it’s become one of the year’s biggest stages for cultural crossover. These odds reflect not just celebrity schedules, but calculated media moves and public appetite for spectacle.”

Other names in the mix include Trump arriving with members of his cabinet (10/1), Elon Musk (20/1), Kanye West (30/1), and President Joe Biden (50/1), all long shots, but in today's celebrity landscape, anything can happen.

A Trump appearance would be par for the course given his history of bold, attention-grabbing public showings, especially because industry leaders are sending a direct message to the President and Congress, urging to take action on immigration reform, or risk unraveling the very labor force that keeps the Derby, and the broader racing world, running.

In a press conference held Thursday in Louisville, business leaders and horse racing professionals gathered to spotlight the essential role immigrant workers play behind the scenes at Churchill Downs and beyond.

From hot walkers and groomers to exercise riders and farriers, immigrant labor is a backbone of the sport, and there’s growing fear that proposed mass deportation policies could devastate the industry.

Trump has vowed to carry out the “largest mass deportation operation in United States history,” but his comments about potentially allowing undocumented immigrants to return legally with employer support have drawn both attention and skepticism.

“We have to take care of our farmers, the hotels and, you know, the various places where they tend to need people,” Trump said during an April 10 Cabinet meeting, per Newsweek. “They’ll go out. They’re going to come back as legal workers.”

That’s not sitting well with industry insiders.

Rebecca Shi, CEO of the American Business Immigration Coalition (ABIC), emphasized just how crucial these workers are to the Derby’s success.

“From hot walkers to exercise riders, groomers, and farriers, skilled immigrant workers are the backbone of the horse racing industry. Their contributions help generate $177 billion for the American economy and are crucial to the Kentucky Derby's success every year, but the immigration system is failing them,” she told Newsweek.

Dale Romans, president of the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, echoed those concerns, adding, “Horses can’t get on the track without the right workers behind them. Seventy-eight percent of backstretch workers are immigrants; the industry cannot survive without them.”

The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby kicks off this Saturday, as the world’s top three-year-old horses converge on Churchill Downs for the first leg of the Triple Crown.

With a scheduled post time of 6:57 p.m. ET, anticipation is building around several key storylines heading into the 2025 edition. Among the most talked-about is Journalism, the 3-1 favorite according to the latest odds. The colt enters the Derby on a hot streak, having notched four straight victories. If Journalism crosses the finish line first, he’ll become the seventh favorite to win the Derby in the last 13 years.

According to CBS, a former Sports Illustrated reporter and editor, Menez has his sights set on Burnham Square, despite the colt being a 12-1 longshot in the 2025 Kentucky Derby odds. Burnham Square recently turned heads with a 1¾-length win over Tappan Street in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.