Nyquist, With 8 Wins in 8 Races, is First Unbeaten 2-Year Old Champion to Win Kentucky Derby Since 1977 Triple Crown Winner Seattle Slew
“The Preakness looks like a two-horse race between Nyquist and Exaggerator.” - Randy Moss
“There will be some ‘new shooters’ in the race but none that the Nyquist camp would lose any sleep over.” – Hall of Fame Jockey Jerry Bailey, a Two-Time Preakness Stakes Winner
Coverage from Pimlico Begins This Friday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN & Continues Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN
STAMFORD, Conn. – May 17, 2016 – Kentucky Derby-winner Nyquist leads the field as NBC Sports Group presents the 141st running of the Preakness Stakes, the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, this Saturday, May 21 at 5 p.m. ET on NBC. Game 4 of the St. Louis Blues-San Jose Sharks NHL Western Conference Final airs on NBC immediately following the Preakness Stakes.
Coverage from Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Md., begins this Friday at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN with the Black-Eyed Susan, and continues Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
With a record of eight wins in eight races, Nyquist is the first unbeaten two-year-old Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion to win the Kentucky Derby since 1977’s Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Nyquist’s Derby-winning time of 2:01.31 is the fastest since 2003 (Funny Cide), and the 14th-fastest in history.
With a win Saturday at the Preakness Stakes, Nyquist will head to the Belmont aiming to succeed American Pharoah as a Triple Crown champion. NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the Belmont Stakes begins Friday, June 10.
COMMENTATORS: NBC Sports Group’s coverage of the Preakness Stakes features hosts Bob Costas, a 27-time Emmy Award-winner, and Tom Hammond; analysts Randy Moss and Jerry Bailey, the Hall of Fame jockey and two-time Preakness Stakes winner; analysts/handicappers Bob Neumeier and Eddie Olczyk; NBCSN host/NBC reporter Laffit Pincay, III; reporters Kenny Rice, Donna Brothers, and Carolyn Manno; and race caller Larry Collmus.
FEATURES AND STORYLINES: Following are the features NBC Sports Group will present on its Preakness coverage:
- A visit with Nyquist jockey Mario Gutierrez, who experienced personal doubt after winning his first Kentucky Derby in 2012 aboard I’ll Have Another. Then, in the 2016 Kentucky Derby, he became the first jockey in 118 years to win his first two Kentucky Derby starts with his win aboard Nyquist.
- A profile on Nyquist trainer Doug O’Neill and his family, including his brother Dennis, who picked Nyquist in a horse sale. The family has enjoyed two Derby wins since 2012, but endured tough losses away from the track.
- Carolyn Manno examines the new and returning challengers
The coordinating producer of NBC’s horse racing coverage is Rob Hyland, who has been a part of the network’s horse racing coverage since 2001. The Preakness Stakes is directed by Sunday Night Football and NBC Sports’ horse racing director, Drew Esocoff. The coverage on NBCSN is produced by Billy Matthews and directed by Pierre Moossa. The executive producer of NBC Sports and NBCSN is Sam Flood, who has produced 13 Triple Crown races for the network.
| PREAKNESS STAKES COVERAGE | |||
| Date | Time | Event | Network |
| Fri., May 20 | 3 p.m. | Black-Eyed Susan | NBCSN |
| Sat., May 21 | 2:30 p.m. | Preakness Saturday | NBCSN |
| Sat., May 21 | 5:00 p.m. | Preakness Stakes | NBC |
THE EXPERTS
NBC Sports horse racing analysts Jerry Bailey and Randy Moss on the Preakness:
TWO-TIME PREAKNESS WINNER JERRY BAILEY:
On Nyquist’s top competition at the Preakness: “The Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist will again rule as the prohibitive favorite in the Preakness Stakes, but will again have Derby runner-up Exaggerator to contend with. Exaggerator was a fast-closing second at Churchill Downs but given the fact that he has tried Nyquist four times and hasn’t been able to get past him, he still has his work cut out for him. There will be some ‘new shooters’ in the race but none that the Nyquist camp would lose any sleep over.”
On Preakness Stakes distance vs. Kentucky Derby for Nyquist: “Since Nyquist usually wins either on or close to the lead, the shorter distance of the Preakness should not be an issue, just as it wasn’t for last year’s Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.”
ANALYST RANDY MOSS:
On Nyquist’s challengers in Preakness: “The Preakness looks like a two-horse race between Nyquist and Exaggerator. Nyquist has beaten Exaggerator all four times they’ve been in the same race. But Exaggerator is good enough to capitalize if Nyquist is compromised by a slow start or traffic trouble or simply just isn’t at his best for a variety of reasons.”
NBC SPORTS LIVE EXTRA PREAKNESS STAKES COVERAGE
NBC Sports Live Extra — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, and tablets — will offer a mosaic of four different camera angles for the first time ever at the Preakness. The angles include the NBC broadcast, an isolation camera on Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist, an overhead camera, and Larry Collmus’ Preakness Stakes race call live as streamed by a camera in his booth at Pimlico. The feature debuted in NBC Sports Live Extra’s Kentucky Derby live stream this year.
NBC Sports Live Extra will stream NBC and NBCSN Preakness Stakes coverage via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to for their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms. The NBC Sports Live Extra app is available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. For desktops, NBC Sports Live Extra can be accessed at NBCSports.com/liveextra.
NBC Sports Live Extra’s Preakness Stakes coverage includes:
- Bonus analysis by NBC Sports commentators
- Replays and highlights from the Kentucky Derby and earlier prep races
PREAKNESS STAKES ALL-ACCESS
Horse racing fans can access content from the Preakness at a “social center” housed on NBCSports.com/Preakness. Fans can access video highlights and the latest social conversations around the Preakness Stakes, and find out their ‘Horse Name’ and share it across Facebook and Twitter.
For the ultimate horse racing fan, the @NBCSN Twitter handle will have the latest news and analysis leading up to the Preakness, and Twitter users will be encouraged to join the conversation by using the hashtag #PREAKNESS. In addition, everyone at home can cast their vote for the Preakness winner with the “Choose the Winning Horse” Facebook poll on www.facebook.com/NBCSports. The nation’s votes will be tallied and shown on-air during the Preakness broadcast.
# # #
NBC SPORTS GROUP AND HORSE RACING: 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. 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 Group reassembled the Triple Crown. NBC Sports’ coverage of 2016 Kentucky Derby averaged 15.5 million viewers – marking the fourth consecutive year the “Run for the Roses” has topped 15 million viewers on NBC.
AWARDS FOR NBC’S HORSE RACING COVERAGE: NBC Sports Group’s coverage of American Pharoah’s historic Triple Crown run in 2015 earned two Sports Emmys: Outstanding Camera Work for the entire Triple Crown series, and Outstanding Open/Tease for the 141st Kentucky Derby, narrated by Ashley Judd. Since its involvement in the Triple Crown, NBC Sports has been honored with 16 Eclipse Awards for its thoroughbred racing coverage including the award for Television – Live Program for the 2015 Belmont Stakes, 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic and the 2013 Kentucky Derby. NBC’s previous wins in that category include: Preakness (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008), Kentucky Derby (2007, 2012), Belmont (2004) and Breeder’s Cup (2001). Additionally, NBC Sports has won four Eclipse Awards in the features category: “California Chrome: The Unlikely Champion,” which aired on NBCSN in June 2014, a 2002 feature on War Emblem (Preakness broadcast), a 2005 feature on Afleet Alex (Kentucky Derby broadcast) and a 2009 feature on Mine That Bird (Preakness broadcast).
–NBC SPORTS GROUP–