Five things to watch during this most unusual Kentucky Derby

It’s been moved from its customary spot at the beginning of the Triple Crown series, it’s been forced by various circumstances to be run without the accompaniment of a jubilant crowd, yet the Kentucky Derby remains the most coveted prize in horse racing.

In a highly unusual year, 17 of the most gifted 3-year-old Thoroughbreds on the planet will hit the dirt at Churchill Downs in Louisville on Saturday to chase history.

And, like the 145 editions that have come before it, intriguing storylines abound in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Here are five things to watch for when the contenders enter the starting gate for the 146th Run for the Roses:

Pack of favorites

It will be quite easy to get an early gauge on the best-regarded runners in this year’s Kentucky Derby. The top three choices, according to oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, will occupy the three outside posts.

During Tuesday’s post-position draw, intrigue mounted as the horses were randomly assigned their lanes and the name of presumptive favorite Tiz the Law continued to go unspoken.

The Belmont Stakes winner was the last to draw an assignment, slotting into post No. 17, right between Honor A. P. and Authentic.

“There was a lot of tension at the table as the numbers drew down,” Jack Knowlton, head of Tiz the Law’s ownership group Sackatoga Stable, said. “It was down to the two or 17, and I think the 17 is a great spot.”

Battaglia installed Tiz the Law as the overwhelming 3-5 favorite. Prior to this year, Battaglia’s lowest-priced morning-line favorite was Empire Maker at 6-5 in 2003. An interesting twist? Empire Maker was upset in that race by Funny Cide, who was also owned by Sackatoga Stable and trained by Barclay Tagg — who just so happens to train Tiz the Law.

Asked to compare Tiz the Law to Funny Cide — to this point his only Kentucky Derby champion — Tagg said, “He’s kind of a stockier horse than Funny Cide but distance doesn’t seem to faze him ... Funny Cide was a very hard horse to ride and very hard horse to train. This horse just does what you ask him to do. He’s strong, he’s on the muscle but he’s a real pleasure to work with.”

Santa Anita Derby champion Honor A. P. drew post No. 16 and was made the second choice at 5-1. In his five career starts, of which he’s won two and finished second three times, the bulky dark brown ridgling has flashed the ability to ride out an early lead or stalk the pace and close.

Authentic, who bested Honor A. P. in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe, has won four times in five career starts. He drew far-outside post No. 18 and was made the 8-1 third choice.

It will be interesting to see which of the three favorites gets out ahead and how the others respond.

Party crashers

In a normal year, three of Saturday’s contenders probably would not have made it to Churchill Downs. Clearly, this is not a normal year.

Because of some late defections, Mr. Big News, Money Moves and South Bend were unexpected additions to the field despite the fact that none of the three accumulated any Kentucky Derby qualifying points prior to the draw.

South Bend and Mr. Big News were among the eight 50-1 morning-line long shots entered. Only seven of those remain after Finnick the Fierce was scratched Friday morning. Money Moves, who will be making his stakes debut on the grandest stage in Thoroughbred racing, is considered the most promising of the trio at 30-1.

Money Moves won his first two career races for trainer Todd Pletcher before some hard luck derailed his progress.

“He came into us with high expectations and I thought he ran very impressively to win his first two races,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately, after that he got sick and we missed several weeks of training so it kind of knocked out the original schedule that we hoped for.”

But circumstances aligned, and Money Moves is now a Derby contender.

“We got together after his last breeze and weighed the pros and cons and (the ownership group) felt like we don’t get these opportunities but once in a horse’s life, so let’s take a shot,” Pletcher said.

Bob’s boys

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has two chances to claim his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby title on Saturday. In addition to Authentic, Baffert will send Thousand Words to the starting gate in post No. 10. Thousand Words, who upset second choice Honor A. P. in the Shared Belief in August, is Saturday’s fourth choice at 15-1.

Out of the running

Two of the 18 contenders entered Tuesday did not make it into the field for Saturday’s race.

King Guillermo, a 20-1 shot owned by former Major League Baseball All-Star Victor Martinez, was scratched late Thursday afternoon after developing a fever.

Finnick the Fierce, a one-eyed gelding co-owned by Arnaldo Monge and trainer Rey Hernandez, was pulled out Friday morning because Hernandez was not comfortable with how the horse was training.

The scratches left the Derby with just 16 horses, which would make for the smallest field since the same number of contenders ran in the 2003 race. One more defection would make this the smallest Derby since 15 horses ran in 1998.

Unique experience

Saturday’s race will certainly look and feel much different to the Thoroughbred industry insiders who’ve grown accustomed to experiencing the pomp and circumstance surrounding the Derby, but it will also be unique for the fans who experience the race on TV each year.

Without the usual parade of celebrities and rambunctious fans to cover in the build-up to the big show, it will be interesting to watch how NBC alters its presentation.

NBC (WLEX TV Channel 18 in Lexington), NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app will broadcast before, during and after the race. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. Race time for the Kentucky Derby is set for 7:01 p.m.

2020 Kentucky Derby

When: 7:01 p.m. Saturday

Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville

TV: NBC-18

Distance: 1 1/4 miles

For: 3-year-olds

Purse: $3 million

Favorite: Tiz the Law (3-5)

This story was originally published September 5, 2020 at 7:58 AM.

Josh Sullivan

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Josh Sullivan has worked at the Herald-Leader for more than 10 years in multiple capacities, including as a news assistant, page designer, copy editor and sports reporter. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and a Lexington native. Support my work with a digital subscription