Kentucky Derby: Horse Betting for Idiots

The Run for the Roses is just two weeks away. The best three-year-old horses from around the world will come to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky for the 148^th Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday of May to chase their Triple Crown dreams. This is one of the biggest sporting events of the year and the biggest horse race of the year to outsiders, so here are some things you need to know about horse racing and the Kentucky Derby.

Introduction to the Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is one of the oldest sporting events in the United States. It has been run annually since the very first Run for the Roses on May 17, 1875, and it is also known as The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports because fortunes are won and lost in that span of time.

This race is the first jewel in the Triple Crown. The Triple Crown represents the ultimate achievement in horse racing as thoroughbreds must win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes in the span of five to six weeks. There have been 13 Triple Crown winners in the history of horse racing, and only two horses have accomplished this feat since Affirmed did it in 1978. American Pharoah ended a 37-year drought in 2015 and Justify accomplished the feat three years later.

Betting is an integral part of the Kentucky Derby. Over $150 million was wagered on the Kentucky Derby last year, and $233 million total was wagered during all the races at Churchill Downs on Derby Day. You can bet on the Kentucky Derby and horse races across the world at BetOnline.

How to Bet on Horse Racing

There are a few different ways to bet on horse racing. The most popular way to bet on horse racing is to simply pick the race winner. The odds fluctuate throughout the day, and it’s important to remember that with parimutuel betting, only the final odds are what counts in terms of a payout. That means if you bet a horse to win while it’s 11-1 but the final odds on that horse close at 8-1, that will be the return if the horse wins.

Another popular way to bet on the Kentucky Derby is with Win-Place-Show (WPS) wagers. You can bet on a horse to simply be one of the first three horses across the finish line and receive a payout if your horse hits the board.

The most popular way to bet on horse racing is through exotics. Exotics require you to predict the correct finishing order in a race, and you can pick anywhere from the top two horses to the top five horses. Since the degree of difficulty is high with these bets, the payouts are exponential, and a longshot sends the amount of money you can win into the stratosphere.

At the 2021 Kentucky Derby, the $2 exacta (top two horses) paid out $503.60. The $1 trifecta (top three horses) paid out $1,696.90, and the $1 superfecta (top four horses) paid out a whopping $9,456.40.

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