Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019
This is shaping up to be a good Kentucky Derby for bettors. It's going to be tough to figure out, but those who do will be rewarded by strong prices. There is no obvious superstar like Justify last year, but the field runs deep, and it feels like you can make a case for a lot of horses to be a part of things. Races like this are what makes betting on horse races so fun. Assuming you want to bet on the race - and who wouldn't? - the next challenge is to figure out where to bet on the Kentucky Derby. Luckily, you have several options:
- Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Winner
- Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Winners
- Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Controversy
- Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Contenders
- How To Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019
Expert Picks at the Kentucky Derby. The 2021 Kentucky Derby is the 147th renewal of The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports. Live odds, betting, horse bios, travel info, tickets, news, and updates from Churchill Downs Race Track. Kentucky Derby betting tips — Consider how a horse has performed in its recent races at the same distance on the same surface (in the Derby's case, 1 1/4 miles on dirt), percentage of starts won.
Online sportsbooks: All of our preferred sportbooks that you know and love for betting on sports can also help you out if you want to bet on the Derby - or most other races, for that matter. There are two different ways you can bet on the races at these books. The first is that most of the books have racebooks as well, and there you can bet on the races on race day in ways we are used to. The other approach for big races is by using the futures listed in sports books. That won't help you if you like to bet exotics, but if you are a win bettor, they are often a great way to go. You can lock in a price that is often better than track morning lines - books are slow to adjust these lines, so they don't always reflect the current market. And once you make a bet you have locked in a potential return, so you don't have to worry about a horse getting bet down close to post time. Plus, sportsbooks may offer bonuses and incentives that will make it even more attractive to bet here compared to somewhere else.
Closer to the race, sportsbooks will often do Kentucky Derby prop bets as well, which is another creative way to leverage your opinion. If you pay attention and get to these numbers early, you can often find ones that are particularly attractive. As always, make sure that you are shopping around for the best price when you are making any futures bets with the books, because the potential returns can vary widely.
Racebooks: Beyond the racebooks that some online sportsbooks offer, there are several services out there that allow you to bet right into the mutuel pools at race tracks. This can be attractive for bettors at home - especially if you like betting exotics and want a shot at the full range of betting possibilities for the race. You don't need to worry about shopping around for price if the service bets into the mutuel pool, but you will want to make sure that you are grabbing the best bonuses and incentives for the type of betting you do.
Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Winner
OTBs: OTB just means off-track betting. These are places you can make bets that are like being on the track, except there is no track. In some jurisdictions, these are stand-alone shops. In other places they are in casinos or at tracks that aren't currently open for racing. Chances are good that there is one near you somewhere. They are a good place to go if you want to bet exotics. They also typically have televisions tuned to races around the country, so you can bet on a wide range of races. OTBs are also a truly fascinating experience for people watching - the type of people who become regulars at places like this are unlike those anywhere else.
Local track: If your local track is currently racing, then this would always be the top choice for me. You can bet on the Derby, and it will be televised for you to watch. You can bet on the good stakes races offered at other tracks on the day, too. And you can watch the live races and get some action on them as well. Plus, it is a scientific fact that beer never tastes better than it does on a sunny day at the track. Most tracks offer promotions to draw crowds on big race days, and they often have strong race cards of their own on the day as well.
Churchill Downs: I have been to sporting events of all kinds. Regular season. Playoffs. In North America and beyond. And none have been more fun than the two times I have been at the Derby. It is a drunken, crazy, messy, lovely spectacle. You make friends in a hurry, and you get to see amazing horse flesh amid world-class people watching. When I took my wife in 2009, a guy we were sitting beside hit a superfecta for a huge score on the first race of the day and proceeded to buy us mint juleps all day long. My wife still can't consume mint without gagging. And the insane excitement when the horses come down the stretch is something you just have to experience. It should be on your bucket list.
Doc's Sports wants you to try out our expert horse racing handicappers free of charge and is offering new clients $60 worth of free picks that can be used for any Triple Crown race. Get $60 worth of premium members' picks free .
Read more articles by Trevor Whenham
Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Winners
The horses are all in Louisville. The draw has been made, and the morning line is set. Now all we can do is wait until post time of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. In the meantime, we can start to think about how to bet on the race and how to make sense of what is a very deep and wide-open race.
One good exercise to do at this point in the week is to look at who the best bet is based on the morning line odds. This isn't necessarily the most likely winner, but the horse that best offers value in their price. Last year, for example, I was very confident that Justify was the top pick, that he was most likely to win, and that he would be my strong choice in the race. But when I did this exercise looking for the best bet on the Kentucky Derby, he was the first horse I ruled out. He was a 2/1 at the time, and though his price climbed nicely to almost 3/1 by post time, it was hard to embrace a price that low in a 20-horse field for a colt who had run only three times. He was a freak, but not a value-packed one.
The best bet in my eyes, in terms of value, was Good Magic at 8/1 at the time. He wound up second at almost 10/1, completing a very nice exacta - at least considering that the horse that won was everyone's pick. So, which horse stands out as the best bet this year? It's a tough question:
It's not:
Omaha Beach (4/1): The colt is predictably and deservedly the favorite, having won three straight, including two in a row under Mike Smith. And the fact that Smith chose this ride over that of Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster - trained by Smith's Triple Crown partner and Triple Crown race savant Bob Baffert - is a major endorsement. But in a race as wide-open as this one , I would have to be opposed to any favorite at this kind of price regardless of who it was. The colt drew the 12 hole, which isn't necessarily ideal and hasn't produced a lot of winners. He doesn't have any clear early speed outside of him, so the trip is likely to be better than it could be, but he still has a lot of ground to cover early on. And he has made only two stakes starts, and both have come on the same Oaklawn Park track, so he isn't hugely proven. I like the colt, and I respect his chances, but there is no value in this price.
Game Winner (5/1): I am a huge Bob Baffert guy, so all three of his horses are going to figure prominently into my selections and bets. But while both American Pharoah and Nyquist, in 2015 and 2016, respectively, won the Derby after claiming Two-Year-Old Champion honors, that has not been the trend for this award. More often, winners have been good at three, but not as good as they were. And so far, that has been the case for Game Winner . He has looked good in both of his races, and he has certainly not embarrassed himself in any way, but he also hasn't won either race, and he has been edged in both cases by horses he is facing again here. He's also a horse that would be best set up by a fairly aggressive early pace, and I'm not certain that is going to happen here . I really like the horse, and I will bet him, but the value isn't here at this price.
Roadster (6/1): He's the top Baffert horse in my eyes, and I will be all over him. But the biggest thing he has going against him is that the 17 hole has never produced a winner of this race. He doesn't need to be near the lead, and that certainly helps him, but the draw didn't do anything to add to his value.
Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Controversy
Best bet:
Tacitus (10/1): In the love affair with Omaha Beach and the three Baffert horses - attention they all deserve - Tacitus has been a relatively forgotten horse. In different circumstances he would get a lot more love - and he would earn it. He has been nothing but professional in two stakes wins against pretty strong fields. Jose Ortiz, among the best riders out there right now, chose this colt among several options, including Improbable. He is bred to run forever. He doesn't need the lead or anything close to it and isn't particularly dependent on pace to set up his race. He breaks from the eight hole, which is a pretty good spot to be in this race. The connections are strong beyond Ortiz - trainer Bill Mott is a master, and owner and breeder Juddmonte Farms have been named the nation's top owner four times and top breeder five times. If this colt goes off anywhere near this price - and there is a good chance he'll rise above it by post time - then there is definite value here. He may not be as likely a winner as Omaha Beach, but if you think his chances of winning are 2.5 times worse - as the odds suggest - then you are watching something different than I am.
Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019 Contenders
Doc's Sports wants you to try out our expert horse racing handicappers free of charge and is offering new clients $60 worth of free picks that can be used for any Triple Crown race. Get $60 worth of premium members' picks free .
How To Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019
Read more articles by Trevor Whenham