Big hats and roses, Kentucky Derby highlights tradition
With the Kentucky Derby underway at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, here are some of the traditions being celebrated.
Ariana Triggs, USA Today
The 2024 Kentucky Derby is almost here.
Race officials mapped out positions for the 20 participants on Saturday, officially assigning each horse to the starting gate. The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports will begin for the 150th time in its history on Saturday, May 4 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
On paper, each of the 20 entries has a 5% mathematical chance of winning each race. In reality, Entry No. 5 has historically been one of the best starting positions, with 10 winners starting from there. Conversely, the No. 17 has never produced a winner in 44 races.
Last year’s winner, Mage, started eighth and was the ninth winner in Kentucky Derby history to start there.
This is the number each of the 20 horses will be wearing on Saturday.
2024 Kentucky Derby: Kentucky Derby 2024: Predictions, odds, time and date for the 150th Race for the Roses
2024 kentucky derby horse numbers
Each horse after No. 8 will wear a different number than his own due to (horse No. 9) Encino being scratched from the race, it was announced on Tuesday.
| Number (email) | horse | trainer | jockey |
| 1 (1) | Dornoch | Danny Gargan | Luis Saez |
| 2 (2) | Sierra Leone | Chad Brown | Tyler Gafaglione |
| 3 (3) | Mystic Dan | Kenny McPeak | Brian Hernandez Jr |
| 4 (4) | Catching freedom | Brad Cox | Flavien Pratt |
| 5 (5) | Catalyst | Safi Joseph Jr | Jose Ortiz |
| 6 (6) | Only steel | Dr.. Wayne Lucas | Keith Asmussen |
| 7 (7) | Honoring Mary | Wyatt Beckman | Ben Curtis |
| 8 (8) | Just a touch | Brad Cox | Florent Giroux |
| 10* (9) | To the password | Daisuke Takayanagi | Kazushi Kimura |
| 11 (10) | forever young | Yoshito Yahagi | Ryusei Sakai |
| 12 (11) | Phantom Tracking | Steve Asmussen | Joel Rosario |
| 13 (12) | West Saratoga | Larry Demerit | Jesús Castañón |
| 14 (13) | Endless | Michael McCarthy | Umberto Rispoli |
| 15 (14) | Local product | Chad Brown | Irad Ortiz Jr |
| 16 (15) | Grand Mu I | Victor Barboza Jr | Emilo Jaramillo |
| 17 (16) | Fiercely | Todd Pletcher | John Velasquez |
| 18 (17) | stronghold | Phil D’Amato | Antonio Freso |
| 19 (18) | Resilience | Bill Mott | Junior Alvarado |
| 20 (19) | Society man | Danny Gargan | Frankie Dettori |
| 21 (20) | An epic journey | John Innes | Adam Picheza |
Kentucky Derby 2024: TV, live stream and where to watch
- when: Saturday 4th May
- Coverage begins: 2:30 PM ET
- Time after: 6:57 PM ET
- where: (Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky).
- cable TV: nbc
- flow: peacock; YouTube TV; com. fuboTV
How to watch: Watch the 2024 Kentucky Derby with a Peacock subscription
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