KENTUCKY OAKS, DERBY POST POSITION DRAWS TO BE HELD MONDAY, TUESDAY AT 11 A.M.

By Darren Rogers —-

Both Draws to be Held in Aristides Lounge, Streamed Live on KentuckyDerby.com

KENTUCKY OAKS – MONDAY AT 11 A.M. IN ARISTIDES LOUNGE

What: The Post Position Draw for the 146th running of the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) will be held Monday, Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. ET in the Aristides Lounge on the second floor of Churchill Downs’ Clubhouse.

Due to physical distancing protocols and other safety measures in place to mitigate the risks associated with COVID-19, only owners and trainers will be permitted inside the Aristides Lounge. However, there will be a designated location outside the Aristides Lounge on the second floor of the Clubhouse for a limited number of media to obtain post-event comments from select connections. Hammond Communications Group will be present and all interviews will be uploaded to the Kentucky Derby News Feed site for FTP download along with footage of the Post Position Draw itself.

The Oaks post position draw is a traditional “pill pull” in which horses’ entry blanks are pulled simultaneously with a numbered pill to determine what stall a horse will break from the starting gate. Preference to the nation’s premier race for 3-year-old fillies is given to the top point-earners on the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks.” Up to 18 horses may enter the 1 1/8-mile race and four horses can be listed as “also eligible” and would be ranked in order accordingly; they could draw into the field should any horse(s) be scratched before scratch time on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020 at 9 a.m. ET.

Where/When: Monday at 11-11:30 a.m. ET in the Aristides Lounge on the second floor of the Clubhouse.

Host: Churchill Downs’ Track Announcer Travis Stone

Pill Pull: Vice President of Racing Ben Huffman and Assistant Racing Secretary Dan Bork

Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Chief Steward: Barbara Borden

Format:

· 11:03-11:06 a.m. – Introduction

· 11:06-11:09 a.m. – Pill pull for 1-7 (or equivalence to half of the field)

· 11:09-11:11 a.m. – Brief interlude

· 11:11-11:14 a.m. – Pill pull for 8-14 (or equivalence to half of the field)

· 11:14-11:16 a.m. – Brief interlude

· 11:16-11:19 a.m. – Reveal of Mike Battaglia’s Morning Line Odds by Travis Stone

· 11:19-11:21 a.m. – Outro

How to Watch: The Kentucky Oaks Post Position Draw will be streamed live on www.KentuckyDerby.com.

KENTUCKY DERBY – TUESDAY AT 11 A.M. IN ARISTIDES LOUNGE

What: The Post Position Draw for the 146th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade I) will be held Tuesday, Sept. 1 at 11 a.m. ET in the Aristides Lounge on the second floor of Churchill Downs’ Clubhouse.

Due to physical distancing protocols and other safety measures in place to mitigate the risks associated with COVID-19, only owners and trainers will be permitted inside the Aristides Lounge. However, there will be a designated location outside the Aristides Lounge on the second floor of the Clubhouse for a limited number of media to obtain post-event comments from select connections. Hammond Communications Group will be present and all interviews will be uploaded to the Kentucky Derby News Feed site for FTP download along with footage of the Post Position Draw itself.

The Derby post position draw is a traditional “pill pull” in which horses’ entry blanks are pulled simultaneously with a numbered pill to determine what stall a horse will break from the starting gate. Preference to America’s greatest race is given to the top point-earners on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby.” Up to 24 three-year-olds may enter the 1 ¼-mile race and four horses can be listed as “also eligible” and would be ranked in order accordingly; they could draw into the field should any horse(s) be scratched before scratch time on Friday, Sept. 4, 2020 at 9 a.m. ET.

Where/When: Tuesday at 11-11:30 a.m. ET in the Aristides Lounge on the second floor of the Clubhouse.

Host: Churchill Downs’ Track Announcer Travis Stone

Pill Pull: Vice President of Racing Ben Huffman and Assistant Racing Secretary Dan Bork

Kentucky Horse Racing Commission Chief Steward: Barbara Borden

Format:

· 11:03-11:06 a.m. – Introduction

· 11:06-11:12 a.m. – Pill pull for 1-10 (or equivalence to half of the field)

· 11:12-11:14 a.m. – Brief interlude

· 11:14-11:21 a.m. – Pill pull for 11-20 (or equivalence to half of the field)

· 11:21-11:23 a.m. – Brief interlude

· 11:23-11:26 a.m. – Reveal of Mike Battaglia’s Morning Line Odds by Travis Stone

How to Watch: The Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw will be streamed live on www.KentuckyDerby.com and televised live by FS2 nationally from 11-11:30 a.m. ET and by NBC affiliate WAVE-3 in Louisville.

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Video of the Oaks and Derby post position draws will be available on the Kentucky Derby News Feed: https://www.kentuckyderby.com/uploads/wysiwyg/assets/uploads/20200819_NEWS_FEED_ALERT_1.pdf

Veteran Churchill Downs odds maker Mike Battaglia will not be present for the Oaks or Derby post position draws but there will be a Microsoft Teams call with Battaglia for interview opportunities on Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET. This year will mark the 47th time that Battaglia has made the Oaks and Derby morning line odds. Interested media should contact Darren.Rogers@KyDerby.com, Kevin.Kerstein@KyDerby.com and Jim.Mulvihill@KyDerby.com.