Golden Tempo statue nearly ready to enter the Winners Circle at Derby Museum
MILLION INVESTMENT TO BUILD ITS FIRST ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN KENTUCKY. GOLDEN TEMPLE’S HISTORIC KENTUCKY DERBY WIN IS TAKING ITS PLACE AT THE KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM. SAM CARTER SHOWS US HOW THIS YEAR’S DERBY CHAMP IS WELCOME BACK TO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE IN THEIR COLLECTION. THE KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM HAS ABOUT 20,000 ARTIFACTS, BUT ONE OF THEM IS MISSING. BUT SOON, GOLDEN TEMPLE WILL TAKE HIS RIGHTFUL PLACE IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE. AND HERE’S GOLDEN TEMPLE. WHEN PICKING A DERBY HORSE, MANY OF US LOOK FOR THE BIGGEST, THE FASTEST, THE STRONGEST ONE. THAT IS NOT WHAT MIKE PRATHER LOOKS FOR. WE LOOK AT ALL THE ENTRIES. DAYS BEFORE THE RACE, WE LOOK AT SOME OF THE HORSES THAT WE FEEL LIKE WE WANT TO PAINT. SINCE 1999, MIKE HAS PAINTED THE WINNING DERBY HORSE FOR THE KENTUCKY DERBY MUSEUM’S WINNER’S CIRCLE EXHIBIT. MIKE USES HIS TRUSTY AIR GUN AND HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES OF THE HORSE TO GET IT AS CLOSE TO LIFELIKE AS POSSIBLE. FOR HIM, THE TRUE SECRET IS THE COLORING. YOU CAN SEE IN THE HORSE WHERE THERE’S. THERE’S A GOOD DEEP, DARK BLACKS. THERE’S HIGHLIGHTS, YELLOWS IN SOME OF THE. YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE HORSE ON TV OR FROM FAR AWAY, IT JUST LOOKS BROWN. BUT WHEN YOU’RE UP CLOSE TO IT, IT’S REALLY UNIQUE. GOLDEN TEMPLE IS THE 27TH HORSE MIKE HAS PAINTED AND WILL BE VIEWED AND PHOTOGRAPHED, OF COURSE, BY THE MORE THAN 250,000 PEOPLE THAT VISIT CDMX EACH YEAR. FOR MIKE, THE GIG OF PAINTING THESE HISTORIC HORSES. IT’S AN HONOR, OF COURSE, BUT HE DOES HAVE ONE REQUEST FOR NEXT YEAR’S WINNER. WE’D ALSO LIKE A GRAY TO WIN ONE YEAR JUST SO WE COULD PAINT SOMETHING UNIQUE. I THINK IT WOULD LOOK FANTASTIC IN THE WINTER CIRCLE UPSTAIRS, ALONG WITH GOLDEN TEMPLE GOING INTO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE. THIS DISPLAY WILL ALSO REFLECT HI
Golden Tempo statue nearly ready to enter the Winners Circle at Derby Museum
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Updated: 6:32 PM EDT May 20, 2026
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The newest addition to the Kentucky Derby Museum is nearly ready to go on display.Each year, the Derby Museum honors the winning horse by placing a life-like statue of the thoroughbred in their Winner's Circle exhibit. The man who has painted these horses for the last 19 years is Mike Prather, who thinks the secret is in the coloring."You can see in the horse where there are deep dark blacks, highlights, yellows," Prather said. "When you look at the horse from far away, it just looks brown, but when you're up close to it, it's really unique." According to Prather, it's an honor to paint the horse that will be viewed and, in most cases, photographed by many of the 250,000 people who come through the museum each year.The statue of Golden Tempo will be on display in early June.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The newest addition to the Kentucky Derby Museum is nearly ready to go on display.
Each year, the Derby Museum honors the winning horse by placing a life-like statue of the thoroughbred in their Winner's Circle exhibit.
The man who has painted these horses for the last 19 years is Mike Prather, who thinks the secret is in the coloring.
"You can see in the horse where there are deep dark blacks, highlights, yellows," Prather said. "When you look at the horse from far away, it just looks brown, but when you're up close to it, it's really unique."
According to Prather, it's an honor to paint the horse that will be viewed and, in most cases, photographed by many of the 250,000 people who come through the museum each year.
The statue of Golden Tempo will be on display in early June.
