Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, and her dad, Larry Birkhead, kept their father-daughter tradition alive at the 2026 Kentucky Derby.
Larry, 53, and Dannielynn, 19, stepped out at Churchill Downs in Louisville on Saturday, May 2, for the annual equestrian race.
“And We’re Off… to The 152nd @kentuckyderby with Dannielynn after an awesome Barnstable-Brown party last night!” Larry wrote via Instagram on Saturday, sharing snaps of the father-daughter pair twinning in black-and-white ensembles.
Dannielynn wore a strapless Mac Duggal gown with a fascinator from The Hat Haven that matched her newly dyed gray hair.
“I’m still a vampire,” she quipped during an Access Hollywood interview about her self-proclaimed “cool” style. “But, I don’t look like it too much now.”
Larry and Dannielynn have a long-standing tradition of attending both the Derby and the Barnstable Brown Gala, held the night before the iconic race.
“Another @kentuckyderby has come and gone. We had such a great time,” Larry wrote via Instagram in May 2025. “An unbelievable full circle moment seeing Dannielynn shine at The Barnstable-Brown Derby Eve Gala wearing her Mom’s iconic dress from the same event.”
He continued, “Hearing Dannielynn share her thoughts when she was asked about what that meant was an emotional yet proud Dad moment. To finish the weekend, a relaxing day at @churchilldowns seeing old friends we met before.”
Dannielynn wore a stunning off-the-shoulder teal MacDuggal gown to the Kentucky Derby last year after choosing a sentimental look for the Barnstable-Brown Gala.
“I can’t know my mom, sadly, and this is one of the only reasons and ways I can,” the teen told Access Hollywood, revealing she chose to wear Smith’s iconic black halter dress for the occasion. “This is the closest I’ll ever be getting to a hug from her, so I’ve been, like, on and off tears the whole day.”
Larry, a photographer, met Smith at the Barnstable Brown Gala in 2003. The model died in 2007, just five months after giving birth to Dannielynn. She was 39.
As Larry raised Dannielynn as a single parent, he’s always sought to keep Smith’s memory alive.
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“She’s got some personality traits of her mom’s, and she’s funny, but I think she’s a good mix of the two of us,” Larry exclusively told Us Weekly in 2020. “So many people come up to her and say, you know, ‘I was a big fan of your mom’s,’ and, ‘I loved your mom,’ or, ‘She inspired me to lose weight or be a model or just being a single parent.’ And so, you know, a lot of people helped me in that regard. … She’s just a really great kid.”
Larry made sure to celebrate Dannielynn’s 19th birthday late last year with great fanfare.
“After this dad busted out of the emergency room for a bout of kidney stones and a muscle tear, Dannielynn’s 19th Birthday weekend celebration got started,” he wrote via Instagram in September 2025. “First up: a trip to @universalorlando Hollywood Horror nights. Then, Dannielynn met up with old school friends and they had a great time. Nineteen years gone by in a flash!”
