Virtual Kentucky Derby to bring Triple Crown winners together on television

Turns out there will be a Kentucky Derby run this year on the first Saturday of May after all. And it will be star-studded.

Churchill Downs announced Thursday that NBC will broadcast a virtual Kentucky Derby on May 2 featuring all 13 winners of the Triple Crown. The computer-simulated race will be shown during a three-hour broadcast on NBC from 3-6 p.m. Eastern, in a window traditionally reserved for the running of the real Kentucky Derby, which this year has been postponed to Sept. 5 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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While no betting will be offered on the race, fans will be able to vote for the winner beginning April 30 at a website designed by Churchill to accept donations for COVID-19 emergency relief funds. Churchill has pledged to match the first $1 million of donations, and a small percentage will be earmarked for the company’s Relief for Equine Industry Needs fund, which provides benefits to backstretch workers affected by the outbreak.

Churchill said that a “full day of online festivities” will be planned for May 2, including virtual tours of the Kentucky Derby Museum and area farms; presentations on making cocktails, hats, and “Derby-inspired recipes”; and an at-home fashion contest.

“For many fans around the country, the first Saturday in May has become a part of their family’s yearly traditions,” Kevin Flanery, Churchill’s president, said in a statement. “While we eagerly look forward to the 146th Kentucky Derby this year on the first Saturday of September, we will celebrate the annual excitement of our traditional date with our fans and community by offering ways for us to join together for a great cause. Our fans will be captivated by the realistic view of the virtual race and we can debate, as we do each year, our favorite to win.”

In the announcement, Churchill said the television broadcast would begin with an airing of the 2015 Kentucky Derby, which was won by eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Additional details on the broadcast will be announced next week, Churchill said.

The first Triple Crown was won in 1919 by Sir Barton, though the series was not commonly referenced as the Triple Crown until 1930, when Gallant Fox became the second horse to sweep the Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont. In order, the other Triple Crown winners were Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015), and Justify (2018).