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Saturday marks the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Nineteen three-year-old horses will go to the post late in the day for the first leg of racing's Triple Crown.

Originally, 20 horses were scheduled to run. But Friday morning, it was announced that Black Onyx from the Derby and no other horse will run from his post position.

reported that this year, a points system based on horses' performance in pre-Derby races dating back to late last year was used to determine the final list of competitors.

For the first time, preference to get into America's most revered race was determined by a tiered points system comprising 36 races, with the emphasis on races at longer distances and later in the spring. Previously, it was based on who had the most earnings in graded-stakes races.

With such a large field, two trainers will continue a recent pattern of saddling multiple horses for the Derby. , a Hall of Fame trainer who has won the Derby four times, has two horses in the field. This year, he will enter聽, winner of the Lecomte Stakes in January, and , who won the Rebel Stakes in March.

, who used to work for Lukas before winning the Derby on his own in 2010, will have five horses in the Triple Crown race. Some observers think that聽聽could win the mile-and-a-quarter race. Pletcher is also saddling , who is also generating some pre-race buzz. In addition, , , and are under Pletcher's direction.

Trainer Ken McPeek also has two horses in this race - and .

, another long-time trainer, will ready a horse that is getting a lot of attention prior to Saturday's 'Run for the Roses.' has won the last four races he's entered, including both the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby earlier this year.

Orb drew the No. 16 starting spot in Wednesday's Kentucky Derby post position draw, which caused some anxiety for the horse's trainer.

鈥淭here was a lot of anticipation, maybe more anticipation than I remember, but I鈥檓 pleased with the 16 and we鈥檒l take it from there. I think from where he is we鈥檒l try to hold our position and maybe try to creep in a little bit around the first turn, and then (Joel Rosario) can watch what鈥檚 going on inside of him,"

One other sidebar to the Derby is University of Louisville men's basketball coach . The longtime coach was recently selected for induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and his Cardinal team won the NCAA national championship early last month. Along with that, he owns a small share of , who is in the mix of potential top finishers.

"If we don't win it, I'd like to see somebody like Shug McGaughey win it. He's never won a Derby, and he's certainly been a great trainer and a friend of mine. ... It's anybody's ballgame. It's not like basketball where you can look at a team and say, 'Well, they've got a little more firepower,'" Wednesday.

Saturday's Kentucky Derby will be televised on NBC, with the race starting shortly after 6 p.m. Eastern Time.