Kentucky Derby: How to watch, the favorites and what to expect in the 151st running of the race

The first Saturday in May means it’s time for the 151st Kentucky Derby, America’s longest continuously held sporting event.

Nineteen horses stampeding 1 1/4 miles around Churchill Downs isn't just a race. It's 150,000 fans jammed under the Twin Spires for a fashion show mixed with an all-day party that is heavy on traditions like mint juleps, singing “My Old Kentucky Home” and a garland of red roses draped on the winner.

6:57 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.

Saturday's forecast is for a high around 65 degrees (32 Celsius) with a 90% chance of rain. The last muddy track was in 1989 when Sunday Silence won. The last sloppy track was in 2019 when Country House won via disqualification.

Friday: Coverage runs from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern on USA Network and streaming on Peacock. The highlight is the 151st Kentucky Oaks for fillies with a post time of 5:51 p.m.

Saturday: Derby Day coverage begins at noon Eastern on USA Network and streaming on Peacock. NBC and Peacock have coverage from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Telemundo Deportes begins at 6:30 p.m. on Universo and streaming on the Telemundo app. All races at Churchill Downs except the Derby will be shown on FanDuel TV.

A pre-race tradition is the walkover, when the horses are led from the stables to the paddock where they are saddled for the race. Some are cool and calm, others get fractious and sweaty. They walk on the track along the rail with fans yelling all the way. The riders emerge from the jockeys’ room and walk to the paddock to meet their mounts.

Besides the sleek thoroughbreds, check out the crowd decked out in hats and fascinators, floral-print dresses and seersucker suits that make the Derby the world’s most fashionable sporting event.

Journalism was the 3-1 morning-line favorite. The Southern California-based colt is trained by Michael McCarthy and ridden by Umberto Rispoli. Journalism will break from the No. 8 post, which has had nine winners, the last being Mage in 2023. He has won four races in a row. The morning-line favorite has won 18 times, the last was Justify in 2018.

Sovereignty was the early second choice at 5-1. The Florida Derby winner is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado. He drew the No. 18 post, putting him outside most of the 20-horse field.

Third choice on the morning line was Sandman at 6-1 odds. The Arkansas Derby winner is trained by Mark Casse and ridden by Jose Ortiz. He will break from post 17, which has never produced a winner.

Six-time Derby winner Bob Baffert is back after serving a three-year suspension by Churchill Downs. He scratched Rodriguez, who won the Wood Memorial with a front-running style, on Thursday. That leaves Baffert with 20-1 long shot Citizen Bull, last year's 2-year-old champion. He drew the dreaded No. 1 post with Martin Garcia aboard. No horse has won from the inside post since 1986.

Hall of Famer trainer D. Wayne Lukas saddles his 51st Derby starter — second-most ever — with 30-1 shot American Promise. He has four Derby victories and at 89, he would be the oldest trainer to win. The colt drew the No. 5 post, which has had the most Derby winners with 10.

With Rodriguez scratched, Baeza moves into the field. The colt was runner-up in last month's Santa Anita Derby and is trained by John Shirreffs, best known for guiding superstar Zenyatta and winning the Derby in 2005 with Giacomo at 50-1.

Grande, a 20-1 shot, was scratched on Friday with a sore foot, leaving 19 horses in the starting gate.

While some of the owners, trainers and jockeys are the same from year to year, the horses never are. The Derby is for male and female 3-year-olds only, meaning a horse is eligible just once in its career. Only three fillies have won, the last was in 1988.

The late country singer Toby Keith's Dream Walkin Farms is a part-owner of 30-1 shot Render Judgment.

Former Philadelphia Phillies star Jayson Werth, whose stable is Two Eight Racing in a nod to his old jersey number, is a co-owner of Flying Mohawk, also at 30-1.

Grammy-nominated singer Grace Potter performs the national anthem on Derby Day. Seven-time Olympic champion gymnast Simone Biles gives the “Riders' up!” call, signaling the jockeys to climb aboard.

For the second straight year, the Derby total purse is $5 million, with the winning owner earning $1.3 million and a gold trophy. Second place is worth $1 million, with payouts down to fifth place. The winning horse's breeding rights are likely to soar. The winning jockey typically receives 10% of the purse and a smaller trophy.

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing and Derby coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/kentucky-derby

Kentucky Derby entrant Coal Battle works out at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Burnham Square works out at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Trainer Steve Asmussen rides back to his barn after watching a workout at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Trainer Todd Pletcher watches a workout at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Flying Mohawk works out at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant American Promise is lead off the track by trainer D. Wayne Lukas after a workout at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Trainer Bob Baffert does an interview outside his barn at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Kentucky Derby entrant Citizen Bull works out at Churchill Downs Monday, April 28, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”

“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.

The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.

A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”

AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)

FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)