Jackson Free Press

American Pharoah finally broke the 37-year streak of no Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. It was the longest drought in Triple Crown history, breaking the previous one of 25 years between Citation winning in 1948 and Secretariat winning in 1973.

While the horse captured the attention of the public from early May to June, American Pharoah is now retired after winning horse racings' first Grand Slam when he captured the Breeder’s Cup in late October. He now lives the life of a stud horse on a stud farm in Kentucky.

A new horse will get a chance to accomplish the feat of winning the Triple Crown this year. Horses have won back-to-back Triple Crowns just once, When Seattle Slew accomplished the feat in 1977 and Affirmed did it in 1978.

The Kentucky Derby, also known as “The Run for the Roses,” is a 1 1/4-mile race for 3-year-old horses. This year marks the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby, and the race this year will have a full field of 20.

Undefeated in seven races, Nyquist is the early favorite at 3-1, as he drew the No. 13 post on Wednesday, the same one he won at the Breeder’s Cup Juvenile last year. Four horses since 1900 have won from that post, with Smarty Jones being the latest in 2004.

Mario Gutierrez rides Nyquist, Doug O’Neill trains him and Paul Redman, who went on to win the 2012 Kentucky Derby on I’ll Have Another, owns him. The horse also won the Preakness Stakes before being scratched from the Belmont Stakes due to a tendon injury.

The second favorite is Exaggerator at 8-1 odds and racing out of the No.11 post. A trio of horses are tied for third favorite: Creator from the No. 3 post, Gun Runner from No. 5 and Mohaymen from No. 14 are all 10-1 odds.

Bob Baffert, who trained American Pharoah, will have Mor Spirit, who drew the No. 17 post, a spot no horse has ever won the derby from. Mor Spirit is 12-1 odds, along with No. 19 post Brody’s Cause.

Destin from the No. 9 post and Danzing Candy from the No. 20 post are drawing 15-1 odds.

New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson has two horses in the field with Mo Tom at No. 4 and Tom’s Ready at No. 12. Mo Tom is at 20-1, and Tom’s Ready is at 30-1 odds.

American Pharoah jockey Victor Espinoza drew the No. 10 post on Witmore, who, like No. 2 post Suddenbreakingnews, My Man Sam at No. 6 and Saghaf at No. 16, are all at 20-1 odds.

Racing from Japan is Lani from the No. 8 post. The horse is known to be unpredictable from the starting gate. Lani and No. 18 Majesto are at 30-1 odds.

Trojan Nation drew the dreaded No. 1 post. That's the horse that normally gets pinned against the inside rail and is pushed back by the other horses jockeying for position. The No. 1 post and No. 2 post are the two of the least desirable ones to draw, and no horse has won from the No. 1 post since Ferdinand did in 1984.

Trojan Nation, along with No. 7 post Oscar Nominated, whose owners put up a $200,000 supplemental fee just to get into the race, are the biggest long shots at 50-1 odds.

The extra fee pushes the pot up to $2,391,600 if all 20 horses start, with the winner getting $1,631,000 from the purse.

Here's two things to know about the Kentucky Derby: The people wear large and elaborate hats at the race, and the drink of choice is the Mint Julep. The food of choice is a thick stew called a burgoo. The TV cameras will be focused on “Millionaires Row,” the expensive box seats where celebrities sit.

You can tell the race is about to begin when the horses parade past the grandstands as the University of Louisville marching band plays “My Old Kentucky Home” by Stephen Foster.

On May 7, you can checkout the hats and the Mint Juleps during NBC's 2016 Kentucky Derby coverage before the 5:34 Central Standard Time start and the “Fastest Two Minutes in Sports”.

Stick around after the race to watch the winning horse get a blanket of 554 red roses and a trophy awarded by the governor of Kentucky.