Kentucky Derby 2017: TV Schedule, Post Time, Undercard and Weekend Race Info

The 143rd Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, the annual event where the wider world of sports takes a backseat to horse racing, with a laser focus on a mad two-minute dash across the dirt track at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

Twenty horses are set for this year's field, and there's no runaway favorite as far as the oddsmakers and pundits are concerned. Early betting shows Classic Empire as a 10-1 favorite, per Odds Shark's Mike Dempsey, with Always Dreaming not far behind. 

This wide-open Derby should make for an exciting day at the track, especially with all the other races set to entice fans in the preview to the big Run for the Roses.

2017 Kentucky Derby Viewing Info

When: Saturday, May 6

Coverage Start Time: 12 p.m. ET (undercard), 2:30 p.m. ET (main coverage)

Derby Post Time: 6:34 p.m. ET

Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville

TV: NBC (main coverage), NBC Sports Network (undercard)

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live

Race	Grade
Woodford Reserve Turf Classic	G1
Churchill Distaff Turf Mile	G2
American Turf	G2
Churchill Downs	G2
Humana Distaff	G1
Pat Day Mile	G3

Graded undercard race info courtesy of Brisnet.com. 

In addition to the six graded undercard races listed above, there are another seven undercard races set for Derby Day. This makes it 14 races in total if including the Run for the Roses itself.

The big races in terms of prize money are the Woodford Reserve Classic—special billing because it's right before the Kentucky Derby—and the Churchill Downs race. The Pat Day Mile Stakes is still a relative newcomer to Derby Day. It used to be called the Derby Trial, and this race for three-year-olds was moved to Saturday just two years ago, per ChurchillDowns.com.

Another big draw at Churchill Downs is the Kentucky Oaks on Friday. It's a race for three-year-old fillies (female horses), and it's a lucrative, difficult contests as a million-dollar grade 1 stakes. Fifteen horses are in the Kentucky Oaks, with Paradise Woods in the No. 4 post an early betting favorite, according to KentuckyDerby.com.

Paradise Woods only has three races to her name, but the results speak for themselves: two wins and a second-place finish, her most recent race a triumph at the grade-1 Santa Anita Oaks on April 8. 

"She's come a long way fast with only three races," said trainer Richard Mandella, per Daily Racing Form's Marty McGee (via ESPN.com).

Of course, the main focus is the Kentucky Derby itself. Classic Empire drew the No. 14 post, while Always Dreaming is tucked inside at No. 5. They may be the top contenders right now alongside the likes of McCracken and Irish War Cry, but the Washington Post's Neil Greenberg isn't going for any of them in this year's race. Greenberg is looking at long-shot Gunnevera to cross the finish line first: 

"Gunnevera overcame a bad post and speed-favoring track in his third-place Florida Derby finish, running the final three-eighths of a mile in 36.59 seconds, the third-fastest time among the Derby field. He is also an off-the-pace runner who fits the mold of prior winners in the last decade — since 2010, only Orb (2013) was more than five lengths back at the mile mark.

"But most importantly, Gunnevera is running his best as a 3-year-old: His 97 Beyer speed figure at Gulfstream in the Fountain of Youth Stakes a career high."

While Greenberg's prediction is bold one, it certainly wouldn't be all that crazy if it came true. There doesn't appear to be an American Pharoah-type figure in the field, to say nothing of an Affirmed or Secretariat, which should make this Kentucky Derby very enticing as the horse-racing world looks to crown a new hero and start off the Triple Crown fever.