This year’s candidate to become the 14th Triple Crown winner in the history of U.S. thoroughbred racing will be decided at Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

NBC will televise the Kentucky Derby, with the network’s seven hours of coverage starting at 11 a.m. CDT Saturday.

NBC affiliates in Alabama include WVTM-TV 13 in Birmingham, WRGX-LD 23 in Dothan, WAFF-TV 48 in Huntsville, WPMI-TV 15 in Mobile and WSFA-TV 12 in Montgomery.

The Preakness Stakes on May 20 awaits the winner of the Kentucky Derby, and another win there would make the Belmont Stakes on June 10 an opportunity for racing immortality.

The 149th Kentucky Derby has a post time of 5:57 p.m. Saturday, when a field of 19 3-year-olds is scheduled to run in “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”

The Kentucky Derby is the 12th of 14 races on the schedule at Churchill Downs on Saturday, and the last of the day’s eight graded-stakes races. The NBC coverage will allow viewers to see the others. The other Grade 1 stakes races are the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic, Churchill Downs and Derby City Distaff. The Grade 2 races are the American Turf, Longines Churchill Distaff Turf Mile, Pat Day Mile and Twin Spires Turf Sprint.

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The field for the 149th Kentucky Derby, including post positions, features:

1. Hit Show

2. Verifying

3. Two Phil’s

4. Confidence Game

5. Tapit Trice

6. Kingsbarns

7. Reincarnate

8. Mage

9. Disarm

10. Jace’s Road

11. Sun Thunder

12. Angel of Empire

13. Forte

14. Raise Cain

15. Derma Sotogake

16. Rocket Can

17. Cyclone Mischief

18. Mandarin Hero

19. King Russell

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.