While horse racing fans won’t be able to descend upon Churchill Downs this weekend, it’ll still come as some relief for fans that one of America’s most prestigious sporting events finally takes place this Saturday. Read on for our full guide to watching the 2020 Kentucky Derby 2020 online.
Postponed from its traditional May date (a quickly-arranged virtual version of the race benefiting charities took its place), the grade 1, one and a quarter mile dirt track race featuring 20 of the world’s best three-year-old thoroughbreds is now all set to take place.
Favourite for this year’s race is Tiz the Law, having chalked up a huge 372 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby standings, having been steered to victory by jockey Manny Franco at the Belmont Stakes, Travers Stakes and Florida Derby.
Also well-fancied is Ellis Park Derby winner Art Collector , Shared Belief winner Thousand Words and the John Shirreffs-trained Honor A.P.
Find out how to watch this year’s race with our guide to getting a Kentucky Derby live stream from anywhere in the world.
The 2020 Kentucky Derby: Where and when?
The 146th running of the Kentucky Derby takes place on Saturday September 5th.
The undercard is set to start at 3pm ET/ 12pm with the main event set to take place at 7.01pm ET / 4.01pm PT.
For racing fans in the UK that’s a 12.01am BST post time in the early hours of SUnday morning.
Race day coverage in the US will be shared across NBC and NBCSN.
Watch the 2020 Kentucky Derby online from outside the US
If you’re looking to watch the 2020 Kentucky Derby, but find yourself away from home then you’ll run into problems when trying to stream domestic coverage online from abroad as it’s likely to be geo-blocked.
That’s where a VPN (Virtual Private Network) can be a lifesaver. They allow you to virtually change the ISP of your laptop, tablet or mobile to one that’s back in your home country, letting you watch as if you were back there.
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How to watch the 2020 Kentucky Derby online in the US exclusively on NBC and NBCSN
NBC once again has exclusive rights to broadcast the Kentucky Derby in the US, and will cover all the build-up and undercard.
You’ll be able to stream the event, either through the NBC Sports website, or using one of the network’s apps – available for iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, and Android TV devices, as well as the Xbox and select Samsung and Vizio smart TVs.
Those without cable will likely have found that NBC isn’t available on many popular cord-cutting options – but it is as part of the Hulu + Live TV package. This costs $54.99 a month and represents a complete cable replacement – and there’s a FREE 1-week trial that will let you see if it’s right for you and allow you to watch the race without paying a penny.
You can also catch all the action via Sling TV in many areas. It’s more affordable than many of the others, but may not offer quite as extensive of a channel collection.
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To keep up to date on all the horse racing action as it happens live, Sling TV is the best option for most people. You can tune in and catch all the action with ease.
How to watch the 2020 Kentucky Derby online in Canada
Canadian horse racing fans need to head over to TSN1, which has full coverage of the 2020 Kentucky Derby event including all the build up from 2.30pm ET.
TSN offers a desktop viewing experience at TSN.ca, and through the official TSN app, however you’ll need a subscription in order to watch this way.
How to watch the 2020 Kentucky Derby online in the UK
Sky Sports Racing has the UK rights to broadcast this iconic US sporting event live.
That’s especially great news as you don’t need a full Sky Sports subscription to watch the channel as its available on the basic level of Sky TV. If you don’t fancy laying out for a full Sky subscription, then there’s also the option of Sky’s streaming service Now TV. A Now TV Sky Sports Pass will get you a whole MONTH of Sky Sports access for just £33.99 – that’s all 11 channels, so as well as the racing action, you’ll also have access to some of the opening Premier League matches of the season, plus F1, PGA Tour golf, and much more.
Coverage from Churchill Downs begins at 9.15pm BST on Sky Sports Racing.
