Kentucky Derby 2025: Start time, horses, channel, how to watch and stream

The first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown kicks off Saturday afternoon with the 151st Kentucky Derby, and at least one racing expert thinks there’s a legitimate contender for the crown.

The Derby favorite entering the race at Churchill Downs is Journalism (3-1), a 3-year-old bay colt on a four-race winning streak, despite a rough ride at the Santa Anita Derby last month. Veteran NBC analyst Randy Moss, who has covered all but two runnings of the Kentucky Derby since 1980, is high on Journalism entering Saturday’s race.

“This year, we’ve got a horse in Journalism that I think is one of the more solid favorites that we’ve had in the Derby since American Pharoah and Justify, the two Triple Crown winners,” Moss said during a conference call with reporters this week.

As nice as it would be to see a “Journalism wins!” headline in the pages of The Inquirer, he’ll have to overcome recent Derby history. The last time the favorite ended up winning the Kentucky Derby was 2018 with Justify, who went on to take the Triple Crown.

Just two other horses — Sandman (6-1) and Sovereignty (5-1) — enter the race with odds less than 10-1, though Sandman is starting at the dreaded No. 17 gate, the only post position to have never produced a Derby champion.

Longshot American Promise (30-1) will break from the No. 5 post, the starting point for 10 Derby winners, the most victories since the starting gate was introduced in 1930.

Saturday also marks the return of celebrated trainer Bob Baffert, who is back following a three-year Derby ban. Baffert’s horse Medina Spirit was stripped of his 2021 Kentucky Derby victory after failing a postrace drug test, leading to the suspension.

Baffert was set to have two horses in Saturday’s race, but his 3-year-old colt Rodriguez was scratched Thursday. That leaves Baffert with just Citizen Bull (20-1), last year’s 2-year-old champion, competing.

There’s also a Phillies connection to one longshot, Flying Mohawk (30-1). Former Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth is part of the horse’s ownership group, and it’s the second straight year he’s had a horse in the Derby.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch or stream the 2025 Kentucky Derby:

NBC’s live coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. Eastern, hosted by Tirico. The race will post at 6:57 p.m., and will stream on the NBC Sports App and Peacock.

Mike Tirico, the voice of NBC’s Sunday Night Football, will handle hosting duties during the Kentucky Derby for the ninth straight year. The race will be called by veteran announcer Larry Collmus (voice of the viral Mywifenosevrything vs. Thewifedoesntknow race), might get the chance to have some fun with both Journalism and Publisher (20-1) competing in Saturday’s race.

“As far as like Journalism and Publisher, I thought of something in the middle of the night the other day,” Collmus said, a thought he jotted down in his notes for the race. “A lot of times, things like that tend to come into your mind at the weirdest times.”

Tirico will be joined by Moss and fellow analyst Jerry Bailey, handicappers Eddie Olczyk and Matt Bernier, and a host of reporters, including Ahmed Fareed, Britney Eurton, Donna Brothers, Kenny Rice, and Nick Luck. Rebecca Lowe, the host of NBC Sports’ Premier League coverage, returns to Derby coverage for the third straight year.

Also back will be number cruncher Steve Kornacki, who will track the Derby’s changing odds throughout the day. Kornacki chose to stick with NBC after the network’s parent company, Comcast, decided to spin MSNBC off into a separate company, along with other cable channels (but not NBC Sports Philadelphia).

In one of the most dramatic finishes in the race’s history, Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby by a nose, edging out Sierra Leone and Forever Young.

Mystik Dan was an 18-1 shot entering the race, which became just the 10th Derby decided by a nose. The colt wasn’t quite as lucky in the Preakness, where he finished a horse-length behind Seize the Grey.

Nineteen horses are racing in the Kentucky Derby following two scratches — Grande (cracked heel) and Rodriguez (foot bruise). Baeza, who nearly defeated Journalism at the Santa Anita Derby last month, is the only late addition.

Here are their odds, listed by their starting position (check out our horse-by-horse guide for more detailed information):

» READ MORE: 2025 Kentucky Derby: Horse-by-horse preview of the Triple Crown race

While the race is commonly known as “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports,” the Derby’s fastest horse finished the race a hair faster.

In 1973, Triple Crown winner Secretariat set the current Derby record after posting a 1:59.40 race time, becoming the first horse to finish in under two minutes.

The only other horse to finish in under two minutes in the more than five decades since was Monarchos in 2001, which posted a 1:59.97 race time.

The Triple Crown’s big three races are the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, which this year will be run at Saratoga Racetrack due to construction work at Belmont Park.

Since 1875, the first year all three races were run in the same year, only 13 horses have won the Triple Crown. The most recent was Justify in 2018, preceded by American Pharoah in 2015.

This year’s schedule is: