FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

THE “ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY™” CONCLUDES SATURDAY WITH THE TOYOTA BLUE GRASS STAKES AND ARKANSAS DERBY ON CNBC

NBC Sports Group has Live Coverage of Two Races This Saturday, 6 p.m. ET on CNBC “With no 3-year-old separating himself from the pack, every owner and trainer with a decent horse is lining up to take a shot.” – Randy Moss on the races

NEW YORK – April 11, 2012 – The NBC Sports Group’s live coverage of the Road to the Kentucky Derby™, the final series of major prep races for the 2012 Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands, continues this Saturday, 6-7 p.m. ET on CNBC with two races: the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes and the Arkansas Derby. The Road to the Kentucky Derby™ is a collaboration of The Jockey Club and the NBC Sports Group.

 

Tom Hammond will host NBC Sports Group’s coverage on CNBC this Saturday from Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky. He will be joined by analysts Gary Stevens and Randy Moss, and reporters Kenny Rice, Mike Battaglia and Katie Mikolay. Jav Privman will host coverage of the Arkansas Derby from Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

 

MOSS ON THE TWO RACES: “The $750,000 Blue Grass and $1 million Arkansas Derby are traditional and important races on their own merits, but they are providing even more drama than usual this year as major Kentucky Derby preps. Never has it been so competitive just to make enough graded stakes money to get into the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field, and with no 3-year-old separating himself from the pack, every owner and trainer with a decent horse is lining up to take a shot.  More than two dozen horses are running in the two races, and all but five are still in desperate need of a strong performance to punch their tickets to Churchill.”

 

MOSS ON THE RACE FAVORITES: “The favorites have to be Hansen for the Blue Grass—he won last November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and 2011’s national 2-year-old championship—and Bodemeister and Secret Circle for the Arkansas Derby. Both are trained by Bob Baffert, whose horses have been almost unbeatable in Arkansas the past few years.”

 

STEVENS ON THE RACES: “So far the road to the Triple Crown has been exciting. Five horses, Union Rags, I’ll Have Another, Take Charge Indy, Creative Cause and Gemologist have stamped themselves in the forefront as legitimate Kentucky Derby contenders. The road continues on this weekend with these two races, both of which look to be exciting and will produce some more top contenders.”

 

The Road to the Kentucky Derby™ series began March 24 with the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes, which was won by Went the Day Well; it resumed March 31 with the Florida Derby won by Take Charge Indy; and continued last Saturday, April 7 with the Resorts World Casino New York City Wood Memorial and Santa Anita Derby, which were won by Gemologist and I’ll Have Another, respectively.

# # #

 

NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: The NBC Sports Group is the exclusive home to the most important and prestigious events in horse racing, including the Triple Crown and the Breeders’ Cup, which was broadcast on NBC from 1984-2005. Last year marked the first time that all three Triple Crown races appeared on one network since NBC last aired the Triple Crown in 2005. NBC has been the exclusive home of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes since 2001. This year, the NBC Sports Group will present 27 hours of Triple Crown coverage across NBC and NBC Sports Network.

 

NBC Sports Group is also the home to Summer at Saratoga, Autumn at Keeneland, and, in collaboration with The Jockey Club, the Road to the Kentucky Derby series that will provide live coverage of six major prep races for the 2012 Kentucky Derby.

 

CNBC: With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD+, CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news providing real-time data, analysis and information to more than 390 million homes worldwide. The network’s 16 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m.- 8:00 p.m.) is produced at CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC.com and CNBC Mobile Web (mobile.cnbc.com) offer real-time stock quotes, charts, analysis and streaming video.

 

THE JOCKEY CLUB: The Jockey Club, founded in 1894 and dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred racing and breeding, is the breed registry for North American Thoroughbreds. In fulfillment of its mission, The Jockey Club provides support and leadership on a wide range of important industry initiatives and it serves the information and technology needs of owners, breeders, media, fans and farms, among others. Additional information is available at jockeyclub.com.

 

Kentucky Derby and The Road to the Kentucky Derby are registered trademarks of Churchill Downs Incorporated.