{"id":11151,"date":"2017-05-06T22:26:00","date_gmt":"2017-05-06T22:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/05\/06\/watch-143rd-running-of-the-kentucky-derby\/"},"modified":"2017-05-06T22:26:00","modified_gmt":"2017-05-06T22:26:00","slug":"watch-143rd-running-of-the-kentucky-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/watch-143rd-running-of-the-kentucky-derby\/","title":{"rendered":"WATCH: 143rd Running Of The Kentucky Derby"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Emma Bowman<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n Jockeys walk through the paddock in a race before the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby horse race at Churchill Downs on Saturday, in Louisville, Ky.<\/p>\n

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John Minchillo\/AP<\/p>\n

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John Minchillo\/AP<\/p>\n

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On Saturday, Churchill Downs ushers in the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby<\/a>, to kickoff the first race of the Triple Crown horse racing championship.<\/p>\n

Starting at 2:30 p.m. ET, NBC will run Derby coverage from Louisville, leading up to the race’s start, with a post time scheduled for 6:34 p.m. The race usually lasts about two minutes. Coverage will also be streamed on NBC Sports Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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While veteran Derby watchers aren’t pulling for any one frontrunner this year, right now the odds favor Always Dreaming and Irish War Cry.<\/p>\n

Keep an eye out for potential Cinderella story, Patch, a one-eyed horse. He lost his left eye last year to inflammation \u2014 coincidentally, after he’d already been named. As ESPN’s Jeannine Edwards explained<\/a>, a horse’s peripheral vision is vital, “so that they can see all the way around them, so he basically can only see half his world.”<\/p>\n

Last year’s Derby winner was Nyquist<\/a>, who held off a strong surge to the finish by Exaggerator. Third was Gun Runner and fourth, Mohaymen, none of which came as a big surprise \u2014 these horses were the top for betting choices<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And this year, there’s big money to win: It will feature a 20-horse field competing for a $2 million total purse.<\/p>\n

For the first time in more than 30 years Tom Hammond will not host the Kentucky Derby. The 72-year-old award-winning broadcaster has handed the reins over to former ESPN sportscaster Mike Tirico, who will co-host with Bob Costas.<\/p>\n