The Kentucky Derby is back, baby! The legendary horse racing event is returning in 2023 for its 149th iteration, and it's just as extravagant as ever. This race is the first leg of the famed American Triple Crown of horse racing. Despite some oddities heading into the event, there's still a lot of excitement over the Derby.
When will the Kentucky Derby start?
The 2023 Kentucky Derby will be held on Saturday, May 6. The race is scheduled to start at 6:57PM Eastern time. From past experience, though, the race more often starts at a slightly later time that the announced schedule.
Who will be participating at the Derby?
There were twenty horses initially scheduled to participate in the Kentucky Derby. However, four of the horses were scratched from competing due to various medical reasons. There is a list of three eligible replacements in situations like this. Therefore, the race will start with just 19 horses at the gates. Here are the horses participating, listed according to their starting gate.
- Hit Show
- Verifying
- Two Phil’s
- Confidence Game
- Tapit Trice
- Kingsbarns
- Reincarnate
- Mage
- Skinner (scratched)
- Practical Move (scratched)
- Disarm
- Jace’s Road
- Sun Thunder
- Angel of Empire
- Forte (scratched)
- Raise Cain
- Derma Sotogake
- Rocket Can
- Lord Miles (scratched)
- Continuar (scratched)
- Cyclone Mischief
- Mandarin Hero
- King Russell
Where can I watch the Kentucky Derby?
NBC will be the main channel where the Kentucky Derby will be aired. Though the race will start at around 7pm EST, coverage on NBC will start as early as 2:30pm EST. The race and NBC's pre-race coverage will be aired on live TV, their website, mobile application, and the Peacock app.
“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” is coming back. Which horse-rider tandem will come out on top?
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