What: First of the three Triple Crown races for 3-year-olds
When: Saturday (post time of 5:25 p.m.)
Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
Distance: 1¼ miles
TV: Ch. 11
Purse: $2 million (winner's share: 60 percent)
Record time: 1:59.40 by Secretariat in 1973
The field: A full field of 20 colts is expected. The likely favorite is Verrazano, who is unbeaten in his four races.
Draw day: Starting gate spots will be determined on Wednesday. Opening odds will be set that day, too.
Triple Crown history: Only 11 horses have won all three races going back to the 19th century. Affirmed was the most recent Triple Crown winner in 1978. Fifty horses have finished one win shy.
1. Pletcher takes aim: Trainer Todd Pletcher has five probable starters and possibly a record sixth. The only trainer to start five horses in a single year and win was D. Wayne Lukas with Grindstone in 1996.
2. Krigger goes for history: Kevin Krigger, a 29-year-old jockey from the U.S. Virgin Islands, will be aboard Goldencents, the horse co-owned by Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino and trained by Doug O'Neill, who won last year's Derby. Krigger will be only the second black rider in the Derby since 1921. Black jockeys dominated the Derby in its early years, winning 15 of the first 28 races between 1875 and 1902.
3. Cracklin' Rosie: Rosie Napravnik is set to ride in the Derby for the second time. She finished ninth — the best Derby result by a woman jockey — aboard Pants On Fire in 2011. Napravnik will ride Mylute.
4. Oldest trainer: Lukas, who has the second-most Derby wins with four, has two contenders this year in Will Take Charge and Oxbow. At 77, he could become the oldest trainer to win, breaking the record of Charlie Whittingham, who was 76 when he won in 1989 with Sunday Silence. Lukas will extend his record for most Derby starters to 46 if both horses get in.
5. It's all about the points: For the first time in Derby history, the field of 20 starters is being determined by points. Churchill Downs instituted a tiered system that awards a sliding scale of points to the top four finishers in 36 designated races. The top 20 point earners at the end of the series will earn a spot in the Derby starting gate if more than 20 horses enter. If two or more horses have the same number of points, earnings in non-restricted stakes races will be the tiebreaker. From 1986-2012, earnings in graded stakes were used to decide which 20 horses ran in the Derby.
associated press
Centennial/Spring Lake Park and Hill-Murray will square off for the Class 2A title after winning their semifinals Friday at Grand Casino Arena.
