2018 Kentucky Derby: TV Coverage, NBC Live Stream and Purse Payout Info

The race for this year's Triple Crown begins with the 2018 Kentucky Derby on Saturday, when 20 horses hailing from the United States, Europe and Japan will compete in the Run for the Roses.

Churchill Downs will play host to the 144th edition of the race, which gets one of the richest segments in the horse-racing calendar underway in Louisville.

The Kentucky Derby also boasts one of the biggest prize purses for a single race after last year's pool was valued at $2 million, per Sporting News (h/t Romper's Jen McGuire), with $1.24 million of that going to the winner.

The "most exciting two minutes in sports" signals the start of the Triple Crown and offers the chance for any contender, big or small, to cement their place in the racing annals at one of the biggest meets of the year.

Read on for a preview of Saturday's race, complete with a preview of the top contenders and who we might expect to see emerge on top.

Date: Saturday, May 5

Time: 6:46 p.m. ET/11:46 p.m. BST

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.)

TV Info: NBCSN (U.S.)

Preview

Justify is the name on many lips heading into this year's Kentucky Derby, having been bred in Kentucky and trained by four-time winner of this race, Bob Baffert.

Baffert ended a 13-year wait between Kentucky Derby victories with American Pharoah in 2015, and OddsShark had another of his emerging treasures, Justify, the favorite a fortnight out from the race:

As well as having a trainer with winning pedigree, jockey Mike Smith also tasted Kentucky success aboard Giacomo in 2005, and he rides a mount that's won all three races in his career so far.

The most recent of those also happened to be his first Grade 1 outing, triumphing at the Santa Anita Derby, although that was also the longest he's raced at a mile-and-an-eighth.

Justify remains a heavy favorite for the first of the Triple Crown legs, but that shortfall in distance and lack of familiarity at one-and-a-quarter miles could be a subtle but significant distinction.

Bolt d'Oro finished second at Santa Anita and will be another to watch out for, as well Magnum Moon, whom sports broadcaster Paul Lo Duca recently backed to do a double at Arkansas and Kentucky:

Magnum Moon has already fulfilled the first half of that prophecy and has Derby-winning tradition in his stable, trained by two-time victor Todd Pletcher, who mentored Always Dreaming to top spot last year.

This year's Kentucky Derby has also inaugurated Road to the Derby qualification runs in Europe and Japan. Mendelssohn is a product of the European Road to the Kentucky Derby and was emphatic en route to a win at the Grade 2 UAE Derby in March, via Twinspires:

The Kentucky Derby has exhibited a tendency to listen to its favorites in recent years, with American Pharoah, Nyquist and Always Dreaming each tipped among or as outright favorites prior to their wins in recent years.

Justify and Magnum Moon will be among the picks to back if that turns out to be the case again in 2018 as Triple Crown season picks up at Churchill Downs.