Steve Kornacki was a late addition to NBC’s coverage of the Kentucky Derby, but the MSNBC political analyst and polling specialist dubbed a “chart-throb” is proving to be a valuable sports asset.

Before the race, 12 NBC correspondents gave their predictions for who would win, and Kornacki was the only person to correctly pick Medina Spirit at odds of 12-1. Kornacki was initially zeroing in on King Fury, but the horse trained by Ken McPeek was scratched with a fever.

Not only did he make the pick on NBC, but Kornacki put his money where his mouth is, took advantage of the 12-1 odds and placed a $100 wager on Medina Spirit.

But it isn't just the winning pick that makes it a media win.

Kornacki’s enthusiastic on-air style, paired with the ability to follow odds and trends translates well to sports analysis. When he went on to discuss the with MSNBC's Alex Witt, he remained humble and still sold the excitement.

After Kornacki and his khaki pants became a viral sensation during last November’s presidential election, he was added to other NBC telecasts, including Sunday Night Football and used the big board to break down NFL playoff scenarios. Joining NBC’s coverage of the Derby might have seemed like a gimmick, but the political analyst silenced any doubters and proved he’s a multi-talented broadcaster.

CNN's Rick Santorum has drawn major heat for saying last week there was “nothing” in America when European colonizers arrived, and now “there isn’t much Native American culture in American culture.”

On Monday Chris Cuomo grilled Santorum over the comments. “This seemed like you were trying to erase diversity in the interest of some White Christian right," he said, as the two exchanged words.

But then, as Cuomo and Don Lemon talked during the handoff between their two shows, Lemon let Santorum (and to a lesser extent Cuomo) have it. 

"I was furious watching that interview in my office. I cannot believe the first words out of his mouth weren’t ‘I’m sorry, I said something ignorant, I need to learn about the history of this country.’ No contrition, didn’t talk about the suffering that Native Americans have had to deal with in this country," he said.

"I mean, Rick Santorum? Really?!" he continued. "Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?! It was horrible and insulting! "

Lemon went so far as to apologize to "viewers who were insulted by it." A bad week for Santorum capped off with getting trashed by hosts at his own network.