Saturday's 141st Kentucky Derby will take about two minutes for the winner to complete. Wednesday, the organizers at Churchill Downs will convene for a significantly longer period of time -- at least seven or eight minutes, anyway -- and conduct the post position draw at 5:30 p.m. ET.
The draw is important because of how historically difficult it's been to win the Run for the Roses from the far outside. The Kentucky Derby began using starting gates in 1930, and a total of three horses have won in 84 tries coming from gates 17, 18, 19 and 20. (Curiously, no horse has ever won from the No. 17 gate, but 18, 19 and 20 have each produced a single winner in the race's history.)
The post position draw isn't a burn notice on a horse; Big Brown was the race's easy favorite at 2-1 in 2008 when he drew No. 20 and subsequently became the only horse to date to win from that gate. But this year's field is especially deep, and with such strong competition coming from across the track, no trainer would want his horse starting on the far inside or outside.
Last year, California Chrome overcame what many thought was a poor draw -- the No. 5 gate, on the inside -- and coasted to a commanding win.
The post position draw begins at 5:30 p.m. ET and can be streamed on the NBC Sports Live Extra mobile app or at NBCsports.com.
Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Streaming: NBCsports.com, NBC Sports Live Extra
TV: NBC Sports Network