2017 Kentucky Derby: TV Coverage, NBC Live Stream and Purse Payout Info

With Saturday's Kentucky Derby upon us, it's time to break down the schedule information, purse information and the field.

Where: Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky

When: Saturday, May 6

Post Time: 6:34 p.m. ET 

TV: NBC (Coverage will run from 2:30 p.m. until 7:20 p.m.)

Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra

Tickets: ScoreBig.com

Purse: The Derby's purse this year is expected to be $2,395,800, with the winner claiming $1,635,800,  per Beth Harris of the Associated Press (via the Denver Post).

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Lookin At Lee	Corey Lanerie	Steve Asmussen	20-1
2	Thunder Snow	Christophe Soumillon	Saeed bin Suroor	20-1
3	Fast and Accurate	Channing Hill	Mike Maker	50-1
4	Untrapped	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Steve Asmussen	30-1
5	Always Dreaming	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	5-1
6	State of Honor	Jose Lezcano	Mark Casse	30-1
7	Girvin	Mike Smith	Joe Sharp	15-1
8	Hence	Florent Geroux	Steve Asmussen	15-1
9	Irap	Mario Gutierrez	Doug O’Neill	20-1
10	Gunnevera	Javier Castellano	Antonio Sano	15-1
11	Battle of Midway	Flavien Prat	Jerry Hollendorfer	30-1
12	Sonneteer	Kent Desormeaux	Keith Desormeaux	50-1
13	J Boys Echo	Luis Saez	Dale Romans	20-1
14	Classic Empire	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	4-1
15	McCraken	Brian Hernandez Jr.	Ian Wilkes	5-1
16	Tapwrit	Jose Ortiz	Todd Pletcher	20-1
17	Irish War Cry	Rajiv Maragh	Graham Motion	6-1
18	Gormley	Victor Espinoza	John Shirreffs	15-1
19	Practical Joke	Joel Rosario	Chad Brown	20-1
20	Patch	Tyler Gaffalione	Todd Pletcher	30-1
AE	Royal Mo	Gary Stevens	John Shirreffs	20-1
AE	Master Plan	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	50-1

Analysis

Of the favorites, Always Dreaming came away with the best post position. From Gate 5, he can potentially avoid the pack and race out toward the front of the field, putting him in a position to stay away from the type of interference that can swallow horses in the opening stages of the race.

Given some of his recent behavior, that may be key.

"Always Dreaming has perhaps the best current form, but his recent aggressive behavior in the mornings, which caused him to be trained in draw reins and with a new exercise rider, invites concern over how he'll react when the gate opens, he's surrounded by 19 rivals and 150,000 fans fueled with mint juleps let out a roar," Jay Privman of the Daily Racing Form wrote (via ESPN).

Classic Empire is the most recent Arkansas Derby winner and looked like the strongest horse available in the field after he won last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Consistency hasn't been the horse's strong suit, however, leaving questions about what type of form he'll be in come race time. 

Both Classic Empire and McCraken shouldn't be too hampered by posts at Nos. 14 and 15 respectively, so long as they break well. Most post positions aren't death sentences, though the inside and outside are the most difficult placements to overcome.

In this field, every little advantage—or mistake—will loom large.

"I think it's as wide-open a Derby as we've seen in a long time," trainer Dale Romans told Privman. "I don't think it means it's a bad group of horses. I think it's an even group of horses."

Another interesting factor in this year's race will be an unusual lack of diversity when it comes to strategy, as Tim Layden of SI.com wrote:

"Confusing the issue even further, there seems to be no obvious speed horses in the race. Customarily, the Derby's 20-horse field includes equal numbers of horses who start fast, stalk the pace or come from behind. (The entry-by-points system that sorts out the field from among countless owners with Derby Fever tends to knock out speedballs, because they can't win long races).

"This year seems to be thick with horses who would all like to be in third place and then make a move. Somebody will lead. Maybe somebody will steal the Derby, as [Bob] Baffert's War Emblem did in 2002. But it hasn’t happened since."

Add it all up, and you have a truly interesting and utterly unpredictable race. There isn't a horse in the field without question marks. There also don't appear to be many horses incapable of taking the win.

Parity often breeds intrigue. At this year's Kentucky Derby, that appears to be the case.