Kentucky Derby Schedule 2019 Live Stream, TV Coverage and Lineup Info

The quest for the Triple Crown and horse-racing immortality begins Saturday with the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby.

There's no clear front-runner in the Run for the Roses this year. The favorite in the buildup to the race, Omaha Beach, was scratched from the competition Wednesday because of an entrapped epiglottis, which could affect the horse's breathing, per ESPN.com's Katherine Terrell. 

Another horse, Haikal, was withdrawn from the race Friday because of a hoof abscess. 

The two withdrawals means the lineup is a bit funky this year. The inside post will be open, and there's no alternate filling in for Haikal, leaving this year's race with 19 horses. Bodexpress is the late replacement for Omaha Beach and will run on the outside.

The Kentucky Derby will be live on NBC, with coverage starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday. You can live-stream it all on NBC Sports Live Extra. The Derby itself is set to begin at 6:50 p.m. ET.

2019 Kentucky Derby Lineup

2. War of Will (Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione)

3. Tax (Junior Alvarado) 

4. By My Standards (Gabriel Saez) 

5. Gray Magician (Drayden Van Dyke) 

6. Improbable (Irad Ortiz Jr.) 

7. Vekoma (Javier Castellano) 

8. Maximum Security (Luis Saez) 

9. Tacitus (Jose Ortiz) 

10. Plus Que Parfait (Ricardo Santana Jr.) 

11. Cutting Humor (Mike Smith)

12. Code of Honor (John Velazquez) 

13. Win Win Win (Julian Pimentel) 

14. Master Fencer (Julien Leparoux) 

15. Game Winner (Joel Rosario) 

16. Roadster (Florent Geroux) 

17. Long Range Toddy (Jon Court) 

18. Spinoff (Manny Franco) 

19. Country House (Flavien Prat) 

20. Bodexpress (Chris Landeros) 

With Omaha Beach out of the competition, who are the top contenders in the 2019 Derby? B/R Betting has a look:

The jockey for each horse is listed above, but when looking for a winning combination, you need the right trifecta: horse, jockey and trainer. When it comes to the latter, it's hard to go wrong with Bob Baffert. The legendary trainer is a master of his craft who helped guide Justify and American Pharoah to Triple Crowns in 2018 and 2015, respectively.

And wouldn't you know it, the three horses with the best odds—Game Winner, Improbable and Roadster—are all trained by Baffert, who is looking to tie Ben Jones for the Derby record with six wins. Baffert might seem like he's got the Derby down to a science, but he knows how difficult it is to win at Churchill Downs. He can see potential pitfalls for all three of his contenders.

"Game Winner was a champion two-year-old, but I don't know how the weather is going to affect him—he comes from off the pace and might have some traffic problems," said Baffert, per CNN.com's Rob Hodgetts and Aly Vance.

He continued: "I love Roadster, but he's got to prove something. He's lightly raced. And Improbable, if he doesn't get too excited—they have to handle crowds—the way he's been training he loves this track, but he needs to break [out of the stalls]."

If there's one horse that could shock the world, it's the fill-in colt, Bodexpress. According to BloodHorse's Ron Mitchell, Bodexpress is winless in five races. That said, there would be no better race in which to get a first win than the Kentucky Derby.

Beyond the big question of which horse will win, those involved in the sport will be hoping that the Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports will also be a safe two minutes.

Horse racing is facing intense scrutiny and criticism this year after a recent spate of horse deaths at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The late scratches of Haikal and Omaha Beach show that Derby trainers and owners are putting the horses first, but there's only so much they can do once the race starts.

A horse's life is on the line when it's on the race track because of the serious injuries that can occur and require euthanization. Saturday's forecast shows rain is expected, making for a muddy, sloppy track conditions, which means a greater chance for slips, stumbles and accidents.

The hope for Saturday's race, and all others in the sport, will be that every horse is able to finish safely.