Saturday’s Coverage Kicks Off with Kentucky Derby Prep at Noon ET on USA Network
Live Coverage from Churchill Downs Begins with Five Hours of Kentucky Oaks Day Races This Friday, May 6 at 1 p.m. ET on USA Network
Peacock to Live Stream NBC’s Triple Crown Horse Races for the First Time
STAMFORD, Conn. – May 2, 2022 – NBC Sports presents the 148th Kentucky Derby this Saturday, May 7 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock live from iconic Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Road to the Triple Crown begins this week, highlighted by NBC Sports’ live five-hour Kentucky Derby Day show this Saturday, May 7 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. NBC Sports kicks off more than 12 hours of Kentucky Derby Week action this Friday, May 6 with live coverage of the Kentucky Oaks beginning at 1 p.m. ET on USA Network. Saturday’s live Derby coverage begins at Noon ET on USA Network. Over the two days, NBC Sports will televise 15 live races from Churchill Downs.
For the first time, Peacock will live stream NBC’s Triple Crown horse races this spring, beginning with this Saturday’s Kentucky Derby presentation. NBC Sports will present more than 20 hours of Triple Crown coverage across NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and Peacock this spring.
The 2022 Kentucky Derby features likely favorite Epicenter, who won this year’s Louisiana Derby (G2) in March and finished as the Kentucky Derby qualifying points leader. Also expected to contend are 2022 Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Taiba, this year’s Fountain of Youth (G2) winner Simplification, 2022 Blue Grass Stakes (G1) winner Zandon, and Messier, who finished second in this year’s Santa Anita Derby, and is named after NHL legend Mark Messier.
COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports’ coverage of the Kentucky Derby features host Mike Tirico, anchoring Derby coverage for the sixth time; analysts Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey and two-time Kentucky Derby winner, and Randy Moss, who is covering the Derby for the 41st time; handicapper/reporter Eddie Olczyk; host/reporter Ahmed Fareed; reporters Britney Eurton, Donna Brothers, Kenny Rice, and Nick Luck; and race caller Larry Collmus. Rebecca Lowe will serve as a feature host during Saturday’s “Run for the Roses” coverage after hosting Premier League studio shows, which will be presented live from Churchill Downs ahead of the Kentucky Derby.
Steve Kornacki, NBC News’ celebrated national political correspondent, joins NBC Sports’ Kentucky Derby coverage as an insights analyst for the second consecutive year. NBC Sports’ Tim Layden will deliver an essay.
NBC Sports’ Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rutledge Wood will serve as lifestyle correspondents. NBC News’ Dylan Dreyer, who has previously been part of NBC Sports’ Kentucky Derby and Royal Ascot horse racing coverage, and E!’s Zanna Roberts Rassi, who makes her NBC Sports horse racing debut, will serve as fashion correspondents.
The senior producer of NBC Sports’ Kentucky Derby coverage is Lindsay Schanzer. The Kentucky Derby is directed by Drew Esocoff. The coverage on USA Network is produced by Billy Matthews and directed by Kaare Numme. Executive producer and president, NBC Sports Production is Sam Flood.
Highlights of Kentucky Derby coverage Saturday on NBC and Peacock include:
- Five live races in the Kentucky Derby show on NBC and Peacock (15 live races over Friday’s and Saturday’s full coverage)
- Discussion of the 2021 Kentucky Derby victory and subsequent disqualification of Medina Spirit and the suspension of Bob Baffert, and the impact it has had on the horse racing industry
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Rutledge Wood’s “scavenger hunt” at Churchill Downs
- Tim Layden delivers an essay on Crown Pride, a descendant of 1989 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Sunday Silence, and the rise of horse racing in Japan
- Profile on trainer Tim Yakteen and his family, who have taken over the training of many of Bob Baffert’s horses, including Taiba and Messier in this year’s Derby field
- Feature on Tami Bobo, the owner of Simplification
- Conversation with two Derby-winning jockeys, who both hail from France and won under unusual circumstances: Florent Geroux (2021 on Mandaloun following the disqualification of Medina Spirit) and Flavian Prat (2019 on Country House following the disqualification of Maximum Security)
- Kentucky Derby according to Three-Year-Olds: a segment in which children describe what they think of the Kentucky Derby, a race which features three-year-old horses
- A live drone and two live jockey cam systems will be utilized in Derby coverage (among 50 total cameras)
- Return of the 360 Glam Cam on the red carpet for celebrities to show off their Derby Day outfits and make their picks
- A camera focused on race caller Larry Collmus
- A POV camera in the judge’s room
- NBC Sports EDGE’s sports betting-focused podcast, ‘Bet the Edge,’ co-hosted by Sara Perlman and Drew Dinsick, will have Kentucky Derby segments throughout the week.
| 2022 TRIPLE CROWN HORSE RACING SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES ET) | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Platform |
| Fri., May 6 | 1 p.m. | Kentucky Oaks | USA Network |
| Sat., May 7 | Noon | Kentucky Derby early races | USA Network |
| Sat., May 7 | 2:30 p.m. | 148th Kentucky Derby | NBC, Peacock |
| Fri., May 20 | 5 p.m. | Black-Eyed Susan | USA Network |
| Sat., May 21 | 2 p.m. | Preakness Stakes early races | CNBC |
| Sat., May 21 | 4 p.m. | 147th Preakness Stakes | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., June 11 | 3 p.m. | Belmont Stakes early races | CNBC |
| Sat., June 11 | 5 p.m. | 154th Belmont Stakes | NBC, Peacock |
KENTUCKY DERBY COVERAGE ON NBCSPORTS.COM & THE NBC SPORTS APP
NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will stream live coverage to desktops, mobile, tablets, and connected TVs via authentication, giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high-quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The full HD-quality video stream will come directly from NBC’s broadcasts. NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV, Amazon Fire, Samsung Smart TVs, Xbox, and Chromecast.
NBC SPORTS AUDIO KENTUCKY DERBY COVERAGE
The NBC Sports Audio Network will present a full day of live Kentucky Derby coverage, produced by SiriusXM, on Saturday, May 7 beginning at 10 a.m. ET on NBC Sports Audio (channel 85 on SiriusXM radios and the SXM App). A three-hour pre-race show, hosted by Patrick Meagher live from Churchill Downs, begins at 3 p.m. ET, followed by NBC Sports’ coverage of the 148th “Run for the Roses” from 6-7:30 p.m. ET. NBC Sports’ Larry Collmus will handle the live race call. This is the first year NBC Sports and SiriusXM have teamed to produce audio coverage of the Kentucky Derby.
NBC SPORTS AND HORSE RACING: NBC Sports is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Royal Ascot, and Pegasus World Cup Invitational Series. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001, and the Belmont Stakes since 2011, when NBC Sports reassembled the Triple Crown.
–NBC SPORTS–
