Kentucky Derby 2016: Full Draw and Race Schedule, TV Info and More

The Kentucky Derby, one of the largest sporting events to officially usher in the spring, is less than one week away. 

In horse racing's version of the Daytona 500, 20 three-year-old horses will attempt to take their first steps toward the history books and join the elite company of the Triple Crown winners. 

If you can't make it to Churchill Downs to show off your finest hat and taste the mint juleps, here's how you can watch "the most exciting two minutes in sports."

Date	Post Time (ET)	TV
Saturday, May 7	6:34 p.m.	NBC

And these are the horses that are in pursuit of history:

Standing	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Points
1	Gun Runner	Steven M. Asmussen	Florent Geroux	151
2	Nyquist	Doug F. O'Neill	Mario Gutierrez	130
3	Exaggerator	J. Keith Desormeaux	Kent J. Desormeaux	126
4	Outwork	Todd A. Pletcher	John R. Velazquez	120
5	Brody's Cause	Dale L. Romans	Luis Saez	114
6	Creator	Steven M. Asmussen	Ricardo Santana Jr.	110
7	Lani	Mikio Matsunaga	N/A	100
8	Mor Spirit	Bob Baffert	Gary L. Stevens	84
9	Mohaymen	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	Junior Alvarado	80
10	Danzing Candy	Clifford W. Sise Jr.	Mike E. Smith	60
11	Destin	Todd A. Pletcher	Javier Castellano	51
12	Suddenbreakingnews	Donnie K. Von Hemel	Luis Quinonez	50
13	Oscar Nominated	Michael J. Maker	Robby Albarado	50
14	Shagaf	Chad C. Brown	Irad Ortiz Jr.	50
15	Whitmore	Ron Moquett	Victor Espinoza	44
16	Tom's Ready	Dallas Stewart	Brian Hernandez Jr.	44
17	My Man Sam	Chad C. Brown	Julien R. Leparoux	40
18	Majesto	Gustavo Delgado	Javier Castellano	40
19	Trojan Nation	Patrick Gallagher	Aaron T. Gryder	40
20	Mo Tom	Thomas M. Amoss	Corey J. Lanerie	32

Regardless of who wins the Kentucky Derby, there will be considerably less pressure on them to take the Triple Crown, given American Pharoah's success last year.

Two people who helped make last year's dream a reality are involved in this year's race, but they won't be together. 

American Pharoah's trainer Bob Baffert is the man behind Mor Spirit, the horse that finished eighth in the Kentucky Derby points standings. 

In five Kentucky Derby prep races, Mor Spirit won two and finished second in the other three. Baffert spoke about him:

The jockey who won the Triple Crown last year, Victor Espinoza, will be riding Whitmore, a horse trained by Ron Moquett which finished 15th in the standings. 

Whitmore finished in second twice in four prep races but never won. 

"This horse runs the turns well and has won at Churchill—two important Derby factors," Espinoza told Richard Roseblatt of the Associated Press. "I'm excited to have the mount."

Espinoza will be going for history at Churchill Downs, though. If he wins, he will be the first jockey to ever win the Kentucky Derby three consecutive times. Before American Pharoah, Espinoza won the 2014 Derby with California Chrome. 

Whitmore is not the favorite—that honor belong to Nyquist—but he won his only race at Churchill Downs, which was the Maiden Special Weight in November 2015. 

Given the magic that Espinoza and American Pharoah gave us last year, it wouldn't be the most far-fetched thing to happen in horse racing.