Soggy Derby Is Still a Party

Bob Baffert's return is a major story line at Saturday's Kentucky Derby, as is a potential win for Journalism—though the entrant fell from 3-1 odds in the morning to 4-1 by late afternoon. But the rain, a possible reason for Journalism's slide, is right up there. It mostly had stopped falling by about 4:30pm Louisville time, per the Athletic, but the track was not close to dry after taking water for a good 24 hours. Still, the schedule for the earlier races means the Churchill Downs dirt track will not be used for almost two hours before the official Derby post time, which is 5:57pm CT, per the Louisville Courier Journal. And radar indicates clear skies at that hour, per the Athletic.

Partiers, even in the infield, carried on. A group of college students told NBC News that they couldn't afford to sit elsewhere and that the atmosphere is better in the infield anyway. "It's like a festival," one student said. "And it's more fun than the fancy side." The Courier Journal lists six horses that are a good bet if it's a sloppy Derby here. Journalism is not one of them, but Publisher is. (More Kentucky Derby stories.)