- Date: May 4, 2024
- Time: 6:50 PM EST
- Location: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky
Kentucky, Alabama
What is the Kentucky Derby?
It’s “the greatest two minutes in sports,” although I hope my lady would beg to differ. But alas, she prefers the derby. The Kentucky Derby is the pinnacle of horse racing this side of the Atlantic, part of the Triple Crown races, with the Belmont Stakes and Preakness Stakes. This year marks the 150th anniversary, and twenty of the best horses and jockeys in the sport descend upon Louisville, KY, once again to chase a massive purse and the most prestigious trophy in horseracing. Us? The fans, we descend upon our favorite horseracing bookies and, in turn, chase the horses, often with remarkable odds value.
2024 Kentucky Derby Odds
In horseracing, odds are primarily displayed in fractional format. The fraction represents how many units you stand to win in relation to how much you must risk. For example, you may see a horse priced at 12-1. That means for every unit you bet, say $10, you stand to win 12 units or, in our example, $120.
Important: In horse racing, odds are more of an expression of public sentiment around the horses of the race than a composite of their true season form and skill relative to that of the other runners and jockeys. Essentially, the more money there is on a certain horse, the lower their odds will be.
Kentucky Derby Participants
As the Kentucky Derby approaches, stay tuned to see the field of contenders and their most recent odds. In the meantime, learn more about horseracing and our favorite race bookies.
Betting the 2024 Kentucky Derby
The path to the Kentucky Derby, commonly referred to as the Derby Trail, is a ride in and of itself. Each year, as many as 500 horses are in contention for race day. Each preliminary race ahead of the event cuts the contenders list and moves the odds dramatically until the moment betting closes the day of the Derby. Betting the Kentucky Derby is really straightforward. There are two types of bets: straight wagers and exotic wagers.
Kentucky Derby Straights Bets
Straight Bets are what they sound like… Simple, straightforward derby wagers.
- Win: An outright bet on a horse to finish first in the race.
- Place: A place bet pays if your selected horse finishes first or second.
- Show: A Show bet pays if your selected horses make the podium.
- Across the Board: ATB pays if your selected horse wins, places, or shows.
- Win/Place or Place/Show: Similar to a parlay of either bet type.
Kentucky Derby Exotic Wagers
Now, this is where it gets fun. This style of betting offers much larger payouts, at the cost of probability of course. At this point, you are either the Equestrian Nostradamus or walking luck.
- Exacta: Pays when two selected horses finish first and second in exact order.
- Trifecta: Like an exacta, but three horses, first through third, in exact order.
- Superfecta Four horses, first through fourth, in exact order
- Boxing Bets: A boxed bet pays out regardless of the order and the cost of your payout potential.
Past Kentucky Derby Winners
- 2023: Mage
- 2022: Rich Strike
- 2021: Mandaloun
- 2020: Authentic
- 2019: Country Horse
- 2018: Justify (Triple Crown Winner)
