LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) The Latest from the 142th running of the Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs. Post time for the race is 6:34 p.m. ET. (all times local):
1:24 p.m.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin is non-committal when it comes to his pick for the Kentucky Derby.
As governor, Bevin presents the Derby trophy to ownership interests of the race winner. A few hours before the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs, Bevin said several owners said they hoped they'd see him in the winner's circle. Bevin said he didn't want to pick sides publicly, so he declined to reveal his pick.
Bevin is attending his first Derby since his election as governor last year.
The Republican governor sidestepped questions about politics. Like his predecessors, Bevin is using the Derby to mingle with business prospects at the track.
- Bruce Schreiner reporting from Churchill Downs.
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12:49 p.m.
Derby day weather is holding out, but it's a long way before the Run for the Roses. The forecast is calling for isolated thunderstorms with a high temperature of 81 degrees. There's a 30 percent chance of rain. Currently, it's partly cloudy with winds from the west up to 17 mph.
Some Derby weather nuggets:
- The average high for May 7 is 75 (record 89 in 1940); the average low is 54 (record 36 in 1989); average rainfall is .18 inches (record 4.6 inches in 1961).
- 94 degrees was the warmest, May 2, 1959 (Tomy Lee)
- 47 degrees was the coldest, May 4, 1935 (Omaha), May 4, 1957 (Iron Liege); the record cold in '57 was accompanied by north winds between 20-25 mph
- 2.31 inches of rain was wettest, May 11, 1918 (Exterminator).
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12:40 p.m.
They ran the American Pharoah as the fifth race, an allowance optional claimer won by appropriately named Hesinfront ($17.80). The winner, trained by Dale Romans, ran his record to 5-for-5 this year.
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11:43 a.m.
And they're off and racing at Churchill Downs on Derby day.
In the third of 14 races on the program, the American Pharoah Triple Crown team of owner Ahmed Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert sent out Jazzy Times for an easy win in his debut. Zayat bought the son of Discreetly Mine for $460,000.
Jazzy Times was ridden by Javier Castellano. The 6-5 favorite, the colt returned $5 for a $2 win bet. Winning time for the 6 1/2-furlong race was 1:15.21.
Baffert sends out Mor Spirit in the Derby later Saturday.
Rocket Time ($5.20) won the opening race Call the Colonel ($38.60) took the second.
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11:25 a.m.
Miss Kentucky, Clark Davis, could barely take a step through the Derby crowd without someone stopping her to ask for a picture.
''It's not annoying,'' she said. ''It's practice.''
The 18-year-old beauty queen from Lexington has a big goal that tends to require lots of pictures with strangers. She plans to be president of the United States one day.
Though born and raised in horse country, this year is Davis' first Derby. She's a little disappointed she missed seeing a Triple Crown winner last year. But she's got her fingers crossed that one of this year's crop might make history again.
She smiled for photo after photo: a husband and wife, four sisters, a teenage girl who said she's like to be a beauty queen one day.
''Don't forget me,'' she told her fans, and maybe future voters.
- Claire Galofaro reporting from Churchill Downs.
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11:11 a.m.
Nothing like the Stanley Cup showing up on the backstretch at Churchill Downs the morning of the Kentucky Derby.
That's exactly what happened early Saturday, when NHL officials brought the championship trophy to the barn of Derby favorite Nyquist.
The horse is named for Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, a player Nyquist owner J. Paul Reddam admires but has not yet met. Reddam, who grew up in Windsor, Ontario, is a Red Wings fan.
Nyquist trainer Doug O'Neill stood by his unbeaten horse and they posed with the Stanley Cup. At one point, Nyquist stuck his nose into the cup.
Reddam also has named horses after other Red Wings players, including Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Kronwall, Petr Mrazek and Henrik Zetterberg. Detroit is out of the playoffs, currently in the second round.
Post time for the Derby is 6:34 p.m.
