NBC is the only major network that will televise the Derby in its entirety. ESPN, TVG, and HRTV will all have great pre and post-race coverage. http://www.bloodhorse.com and http://www.horseracegame.com/community will also have excellent web coverage/content.

NBC's Kentucky Derby Coverage Not So Yummy : NBC covered the Kentucky Derby like a state primary election - only worse. First, all the coverage leading up to the race was speculation about who might win, during the race it was about who was leading and coming on strong, and at the end of the race it was all about who won. The coverage deified the winner, once again reinforcing Vince Lombardi's motto that "winning isn't everything; it's the only thing," and ignored the tragedy of the gutsy, overbred filly Eight Belles who ran herself to death.

Covering the tragedy might have been a bummer for Derby's fast food sponsor, Yum Brands, and so NBC joined CBS in proving that it was in the advertising delivery business. Guess who NBC interviewed first after the obligatory rider-owner-trainer interviews and after the official winner was announced? Right, the CEO of Yum Brands, which has its corporate headquarters in Louisville. Of course it was more important to cover the sponsor than to cover the tragedy of Eight Belles and the issue of the greed and overblown ego of owners who over-breed their horses to give them the lungs and heart of an elephant and the ankles of a gazelle.

At least in covering a state primary election, the TV networks interview the candidates and supporters of whoever came in second and even third. At least they discuss to some degree the strategy for the race and even some of the major issues that might have led to the outcome. But I don't recall even the most egregiously commercial of them conducting a multiple-question cream puff interview with an advertiser.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charles-warner/nbcs-kentucky-derby-cover_b_100215.html