The biggest horse racing event of the year is upon us: the Kentucky Derby. The oldest sporting event in the nation will be hosted at Churchill Downs race track for 140th time. Attendance is usually well over 150,000 spectators and viewership is over 15 million annually. The Kentucky Derby is often referred to as "the fastest two minutes in sports" as the winning horse often takes about two minutes to finish the one and a quarter mile track.

This year's Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 3, on the NBC network with coverage beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern Time.

Among the odds on favorites to win this year's derby is Victor Espinoza, riding California Chrome. California Chrome is listed at 5-2. Espinoza is most famous for winning the Derby back in 2002. The horse with second highest odds to win was Hopertunity at 6-1, however a sore foot will restrict the horse from competing. With the absence of Hopertunity, Wicked Strong now has the second highest odds to win at 8-1. Rajiv Maragh will ride Wicked Strong.

Last year's winner, Joel Rosario (shown above) rode to victory in a 19 horse field. This year, Rosario will try to win the derby starting in the No. 8 post position by riding General a Rod. Another theme that is surrounding this derby is seven of the last 13 winners are Latin American born, including the last three.

Of course, betting is a big thing when it comes to horse racing, and the Kentucky Derby is king. Betters aren't just looking at the jockey and the horse; they're also looking at what's referred to as the "pole position." There are 20 horizontal posts that hold the horses at the starting gate before the race begins. The closer to the inside, the lower the number post number and the higher the chance of a victory.

The post position with highest amount of wins is No. 10, which has brought in nine wins. There is only one post that has never had a winning horse, No. 17. This year's No. 17 post running horse is Commanding Curve, and he's running at 50-1 odds, the highest of any horse. It looks like the curse at No. 17 will continue. Post No. 14 hasn't brought much luck either. The longest drought of any winning post, no horse has won from No. 14 since 1961.

Weather always plays a factor as well at the Kentucky Derby. Rain is often present leading up to race day, and sometimes delays will occur. Historically speaking, the hottest derby ever was 94 degrees in 1959, and the coldest was run in 1935 at 47 degrees. In 1981 the derby experienced the wettest race of its history. A record 2.31 inches fell 1918, on race day, but the race went ahead as scheduled. To this day, no Kentucky Derby has ever been postponed the next day due to weather.