Where To Bet On The Kentucky Derby Online
The Kentucky Derby (official site link) is widely considered the most popular horse race in the world and without question the United States. The Kentucky Derby is the first race in the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred racing and takes place every year in early May at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is often considered “the fastest two minutes in sports” because the distance of 10 furlongs (1.25 miles) generally takes the horses around 2 minutes to complete.
The purse for the race is $2,000,000 with $1,425,000 going to the first place finisher. This massive purse is twice as large as either the Preakness or the Belmont Stakes. With this massive following it should come as no surprise that the Kentucky Derby is the most attended horse race in North America every year.
Where To Bet On The Derby
Offer number two is for potentially smaller rollers who just want to have a bet or two on the horses this weekend. It is a Bet $25 offer on the Kentucky Derby and whatever happens, win or lose, you’ll get $25 of credits back into your account for a free bet on them. So you get two attempts to win some money instead of one. Best Kentucky Derby Betting Sites Bovada is one of the best horse race betting sites, period. But it’s especially good for the Kentucky Derby because it offers so many specials, including some of the best odds around. And if you sign up right now, you’ll be entitled to the Racebook welcome bonus. Twinspires.com is the official betting partner of the Kentucky Derby. This horse betting site also runs its own TV network for specific tracks such as Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park in Arkansas. There are many different ways to place your wager on the Derby. At BUSR, they offer their 'EZ Bet App' for newbies. You just sign up (or log in), make a deposit, and place your bet on your favorite horse. For more advanced players, you can place your bet in the racebook. Twinspires.com is the official betting partner of the Kentucky Derby. This horse betting site also runs its own TV network for specific tracks such as Churchill Downs, Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
I would recommend that USA residents bet on the Kentucky Derby at Bovada.lv, our favorite online sportsbook for betting on horse races in the United States. Bovada is the American facing branch of the popular Bodog Sportsbook brand, and with this comes a great deal of respect and trust within the industry. Bovada also offers a great 20% free bet bonus up to $100 that can be used on the Kentucky Derby and they also offer 3% rebates on all straight horse racing wagers and 5% rebates on exotic wagers.
Learn more about Bovada.lv with out full racebook review.
If you live outside of the United States then Bodog.eu is the best place to bet. The website and software looks the exact same as Bovada, but residents of other countries are able to set up an account. Bodog also offers the 3% and 5% horse racing rebates, but their sign up bonus is a 10% matching bonus with no maximum.
How To Bet
Regardless of whether you are from the United States and are signing up at Bovada.lv or from elsewhere and are opening a Bodog account the process and layout of the site are the same. First you should click on of the links on this site and open a new account at either sportsbook. After creating an account you can proceed to make a deposit in order to have money online with which to bet on this years Kentucky Derby.
Now that you have funds online you are ready to bet. If it’s the day of the race then you should click on the ‘Horses’ tab to head over to the racebook. There you can click on the ‘Churchill Downs’ racetrack in the left sidebar and find the Kentucky Derby race. The post time for the Kentucky Derby is generally shortly after 6pm EST. Place your win/place/show, exacta, trifecta or superfecta bets in the racebook.
The Kentucky Derby is such a huge betting event that you will also be able to find fixed odds in the sportsbook leading up to the race. Click on the ‘Sports’ tab in the top navigation bar and click on ‘horse racing’ in the left sidebar to see the odds for the Kentucky Derby and to place your fixed odds bets. These bets are different than the parimutuel bets you would be placing at the racebook on the day of the event.
History
The Kentucky Derby race was first run on May 17th, 1875 in front of a crowd of approximately 10,000. This inaugural Kentucky Derby was won by a colt named ‘Aristides’ after being trained by Ansel Williamson, a future Hall of Famer. The Derby was originally 1.5 miles long, as it was modelled after England’s Epsom Derby. In 1896 the distance was adjusted to the current distance of 1.25 miles or 10 furlongs. Although the race was initially successful, it wasn’t until 1902 when Matt Winn of Louisville and other investors acquired the Churchill Downs that the Kentucky Derby really took off and became the most important race for three year old Thoroughbreds in North America.
The fastest ever running of the Kentucky Derby was done by well known race horse Secretariat, way back in 1973, with a time of 1:59.40. There has only been one other recorded time of under two minutes, which was by Monarchos in 2001 with a time of 1:59.97. To learn more about the history and traditions of the biggest horse race in North America, check out the Kentucky Derby Wikipedia page.
A Brief User’s Guide for Betting on the Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is one of those events that really beggars belief when you consider how popular it is versus the duration of time it actually consumes. The running of the Kentucky Derby, which takes place on the first Saturday of May, lasts around two minutes, or five if you want to count to opening gate dialogue and build-up, yet the race is capping off a two-week event held in Louisville every year. And not only does the Derby attract the world’s rich and famous, and your everyday fan of horse races, but it also attracts the gambling crowd. You might not think so, but the Kentucky Derby easily rivals every other American sporting event, save the Super Bowl, in terms of money bet on the race. And that part of it does make sense. After all, you’re dealing with 20 horses, a wide range of odds, dozens of different betting structures, and probably the single largest amount of proposition wagers outside of the World Series of Poker.
Gambling and the Kentucky Derby go hand in hand today. But what if you’re not an expert gambler in the genre? Well, do not feel as if you need to be left out simply because you’re not a pro in the gambling world. Listed below, we’re going to go over five very simplistic steps to help you bet, and hopefully win, on the Kentucky Derby. If you can follow some simple language and resist the urge to fly solo like you’re rolling the dice, you can make an educated, safe bet on the Kentucky Derby and potentially end up winning.
Steps to Betting on the Derby
Step One: Familiarize Yourself with the Racing Format
Although simple to comprehend, this step may actually take you a while. And that’s because we want you to become relatively familiar with how the race works before you branch out and bet. This means understanding how many horses run in the derby (20) but, more importantly, understanding their odds. We’re going to list the odds below of all 20 horses racing in the Derby, so don’t worry there. But before we get to that point, we’re going to explain what the numbers mean. On the television, you’ll see a horse that’s going off at 4:1, or four-to-one, and this literally means that betting $1 will win you $4 if that horse wins. But the odds you’ll find on a sportsbook will have that horse listed at +400. Don’t worry, though; this is a different way to say the same thing. At +400, $1 still wins $4. And as you will see, you can find everything from odds-on favorites to ridiculous underdogs that would make you wealthy if you hit! Just take a while to research the race format and the bets before you go any further.
Step Two: Find a Reputable Sportsbook with Which to Bet
The next step here is to find yourself a reputable sportsbook. Now, you have two basic choices here. One, you can check out our other material throughout our extensive gambling network to find a great location with which to bet. Two, you can put in the time and research yourself to find a good sportsbook. You’re looking for a sportsbook that has a variety of odds, great security, plenty of payment options, a great reputation, simulcast racing events, and more. You may want to stick around and bet on more than just the Kentucky Derby, so it’s important to find a site that hits all the high points. Also, be on the lookout for lucrative bonuses and promotions. Some of the best sportsbooks will offer cashback options on races like the Kentucky Derby and will generally offer you a nice deposit bonus for signing up.
Step Three: Find and Understand the Odds
So, before any decision to bet, you will need to know the odds of the horses in the field. Listed below are all 20 horses running in the Kentucky Derby on May 6, 2017. No frills or anything fancy here. This is simply a list of the horses running in the order of their pole positions and what they’re currently listed as:
• Lookin At Lee 20:1
• Thunder Snow 20:1
• Fast and Accurate 50:1
• Untrapped 30:1
• Always Dreaming 5:1
• State of Honor 30:1
• Girvin 15:1
• Hence 15:1
• Irap 20:1
• Gunnevera 15:1
• Battle Of Midway 30:1
• Sonneteer 50:1
• J Boys Echo 20:1
• Classic Empire 4:1
• McCraken 5:1
• Tapwrit 20:1
• Irish War Cry 6:1
• Gormley 15:1
• Practical Joke 20:1
• Patch 30:1
These are the 20 horses that are suspected to run in the Derby this year, if all holds to form. There are actually around 30 horses listed right now, but not all of them will run. These are the horses with the best odds, and as you can see, some of them are definitely long shots. Once you get past 20:1, you’re dealing with a double-edged sword: One edge is big money if you win, the other is the fact that it’s highly unlikely you will win.
Step Four: Keep Your Betting Simplistic
Our recommendation for people new to horse betting is that they keep it very simple by placing a straight bet on a horse to win. To put it simply, this means picking a horse you think will win and placing a bet. We emphasize this simplicity because horse betting can be very tricky. You have daily doubles, parlays, trifecta tickets, objections, minus pools, show bets, place bets, underplays, and much more. This can all be incredibly confusing for people who haven’t become familiar with the genre. So, to start out with your betting, go the simple route and try to pick a horse you think will win.
Step Five: Bet Wisely and Conservatively
After picking your horse, or horses for leverage, you need to decide what to bet. What we recommend here for the Derby is the 10% rule. E.g. if you have $300 in your sportsbook account, do not bet more than 30% of that, i.e. $30. Now, this isn’t set in stone or anything; it’s a general rule to help you hold on to the majority of your money. And any way you slice it, you’ll get paid off nicely if you do win. By the time the Derby kicks off, the average odds on favorites will be around 4:1, so even if you’re only betting $20, this would be an $80 payoff if you win, though only a small 10% hit if you lose. That’s the idea behind betting conservatively. We cannot tell you how to bet, but you’ll be able to make many more bets by going with the 10% rule, and it won’t take you long at all to build a healthy stack if you start winning.
This was a simple guide to help you bet wisely on the Kentucky Derby. For a complete rundown of the Derby, including its history and other details, we have other pieces in our network that will help you get a handle on it all.
The Kentucky Derby is the biggest horse race of the year in North America and one of the biggest in the world. In some parts of the United States, the Kentucky Derby is treated almost like a holiday complete with people taking off work, hosting watch parties and (of course) betting on who will win it this year.
Betting and horse racing are intimately intertwined, and the Kentucky Derby is one of the most extreme examples of this. Last year, the Kentucky Derby attracted nearly $140 million in total wagers from legal, trackable sources just in the USA.
Best Betting Sites for the 2018 Kentucky Derby
Those lucky enough to attend the 2018 Kentucky Derby in person are far from the only people who will be betting on the race this year. No matter where you live, there is a way to bet on the Kentucky Derby. Whether you live in the United States or anywhere else in the world, you can bet on the Kentucky Derby online and watch this year’s race with something on the line.
The best website to bet on the Kentucky Derby is different if you live in the United States versus anywhere else in the world, so we’ll tackle this subject in two stages. Let’s begin with our horse racing fans in the USA.
If you live anywhere else, click here to skip down to the relevant portion of today’s post.
Best USA Betting Sites for the Kentucky Derby
Horse racing betting is one of the few forms of online gaming in the USA where is no legal grey area. Licensed betting sites such as BetAmerica and TwinSpires comply with all federal and state laws so there is no question regarding their legality.
Betting with Legal US Racebooks
There are three major advantages to betting at a site such as BetAmerica or TwinSpires that is licensed in the USA:
- 100% Legal: Unlike other forms of online betting, horse racing does not operate in murky legal waters. When you bet at a licensed racebook, there are absolutely no questions that it is 100% legal.
- Based in the USA: It’s nice doing business with sites that are based in the USA because you know they must adhere to US law and there is legal recourse if something goes wrong. You also get all the benefits of knowing these sites are regulated and monitored by local licensing authorities.
- Paid at full track odds: One of the best things about betting at licensed US racebooks is that all wagers taken online are pooled with the wagers taken at the track. This creates bigger betting pools and also ensures that you will be paid at full track odds – the same as if you would have placed the bet in-person at the track.
- Easy deposits and withdrawals: Because these sites are legal and licensed, financial firms are not afraid to work with them in order to process transactions for customers. Thus, it is much faster and easier to make deposits and receive withdrawals at US-licensed sites than it is at offshore sportsbooks.
Best Kentucky Derby Betting Sites for Everyone Else
Our readers who live in the rest of the world have many more options as far as choosing where to bet online. Racebets.com, ComeOn, and William Hill are just a few of the many dozens of licensed, reputable and safe betting apps our international readers have at their disposal.
In fact, those are my three top picks for anyone interested in betting on the 2018 Kentucky Derby from anywhere outside the United States. These three sites hold licenses from the demanding UK Gambling Commission but are authorized to take wagers from many other countries as well.
Here’s a quick look at the top 10 as of 29 April:
Racebets.com is also one of my favorites for promotional offerings. If you visit the Racebets.com homepage and then click on “offers,” you’ll see a whole page full of promotions that add a lot of value to your time there. Any time I’m in need of a boost, Racebets.com is the first place I check.
Second Pick: ComeOn.com
ComeOn.com will be covering the Kentucky Derby as well and has already posted early odds on all anticipated runners. The promotional offerings at ComeOn are not quite as numerous as those at Racebets, but ComeOn is still a solid place when it comes to getting extra value for your action.
The latest odds on the top 10 runners at ComeOn.com as of 29 April are:
Third Pick: William Hill
William Hill is just a solid all-around bookmaker whose roots date all the way back to 1934. Very few bookmakers today come even close to William Hill in terms of history and experience. The promotional offering is a little weaker here than at Racebets or ComeOn, but William Hill does still offer a few special promotions for horse racing that you may want to consider.
Where To Bet On The Kentucky Derby Online Games
Here are the odds on the top 10 Kentucky Derby runners as of 29 April at William Hill: