Gamblers across the nation placed just over $6.2 million in bets on the 9-2 race favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, according to statistics provided by a spokesman for the online horse racing site. Make sure you bet on the Kentucky Derby. That's because betting on the Kentucky Derby is a great way to get a good return on investment. Here, are the best online horse racing betting sites, based on research: Bovada Intertops BetOnline MyBookie SportsBetting.ag.
- How Much Money Is Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019
- How Much Money Is Bet On Kentucky Derby Horse Racing
- How Much Money Is Bet On Kentucky Derby Contenders
- How Much Money Is Bet On Kentucky Derby Winners
Horse racing isn’t as popular as it used to be. That’s obvious. However, the Kentucky Derby continues to set records for the amount of money wagered. And the handle on the big race is why bettors should consider placing some exotic bets on the race.
Parimutuel horse racing
Before big horse races like the Kentucky Derby, bettors can place a futures wager with most legal US sportsbooks. This will only pay if the horse wins the race. Betting on individual horse races is different from betting against a sportsbook or casino.
Wagering on an individual horse racing is by parimutuel betting. This type of betting is different than a traditional sportsbook bet.
The word parimutuel is French and means “to wager amongst ourselves.” Basically, all the money bet on the big race for the Kentucky Derby is put into one large betting pool comprised of all money wagered. Winning bets are paid by the racebook or racetrack from the entire pool of money wagered.
The track, Churchill Downs, will take a percentage of the money bet on the Kentucky Derby off the top of the betting pool. The rest of the pool is split among winning bettors. Let’s use some round numbers for an example:
- Money wagered: $1,000,000
- Track take: 20% or $200,000
- Betting pool paid to winners: 80% or $800,000
In the example above, there’s $800,000 to pay out to the winners. The pool of money for winners at the Kentucky Derby is so much larger than a normal horse race. The most popular horse race in the US has a lot of bets made all over the world. Every parimutuel bet goes into that pool no matter where it’s made.
The variety of wagers is large and can be complicated for new bettors. Thankfully for bettors, there’s so much money wagered that the money being split among winners is often more than a race on a random Tuesday afternoon.
ALSO READ: Wagering On The Kentucky Derby? You Can Place Legal Bets On Your Phone In 31 States
Get exotic
The Kentucky Derby has a larger than normal pool of money from bettors. A lot of the money in the pool for bettors to win is made by casual bettors that have little chance to win. This leaves money available to bettors that even do a little research to cash in with
The best way to take advantage of the Run for the Roses might be to add some exotic bets to the mix. These wagers are a bit more complicated than the traditional Win (1st place), Place (2nd place), and show (3rd place) bets.
There are exotics available for single races and multiple races. Since most bettors are only watching for the Kentucky Derby, we’ll focus on the single race exotic wagers:
- Exacta: Pick the first place and second place finishers in order
- Trifecta: Pick the first place, second place, and third place finishers in order
- Superfecta: Pick the first place, second place, third place, and fourth place finishers in order
These exotic are similar to parlays for horse racing. They involve more horses than a Win, Place, Show bet on a single horse. These bets pay more but may cost more to bet.
How Much Money Is Bet On The Kentucky Derby 2019
Some bettors play straight exotic bets where each horse must finish in the selected place. Bettors choose to “box” the horses so any horse can finish in any place. There isn’t a discount to boxing horses, this is just a way to simplify the process of placing multiple bets.
For example, a bettor can place an exacta for the 1 and 3 horses to finish first and second, respectively. Each horse must finish in the specific position for the bet to win. If unsure, the bettor can place a second exacta on the 3 and 1 to finish first and second, respectively.
An easier way to do this would be to box the exacta with the 1 and 3 horse. The two horse exacta bets cost the same regardless of how the example wager is placed. A $2 wager made twice will cost $4.
The process of boxing horses is simple with a two-horse example. However, it’s very helpful when more horses are included in an exacta, trifecta, or superfecta box. The more horses involved with each exotic boxed bet will make each wager more expensive to place.
Big payouts
Payouts for exotic bets can be huge for the Kentucky Derby. Each exotic betting pool pays out differently based on how much money was bet. The payouts are made by taking the total money wagered in the (exacta, trifecta, superfecta) pool and subtracting the track takeout, then dividing the remainder of the money by the number of winning tickets.
The exact winning price is almost impossible to predict. There’s one thing to know: more money is paid when there’s at least one horse with longer odds in the winning exacta, trifecta, or superfecta. The higher the longer odds horses finish the greater the payout tends to be.
This makes sense since fewer people are wagering on these horses. In this case, there will be fewer winners on any of the exotic bets and each winning exotic will pay more money to the winners.
Betting on the Kentucky Derby
We have a handy Kentucky Derby Betting Guide. This is a great place for new bettors to start understanding how to bet on the Kentucky Derby.
Once odds are posted they will change based on the amount of money wagered on each horse. The odds will change right up until the gates open and the horses run for the roses.
Handicapping horse racing isn’t easy for anyone. A little research can go a long way. There’s so much dead money in the parimutuel betting pool for the Kentucky Derby that throwing a few bucks on the big race isn’t a bad idea.
The Kentucky Derby is a special event that happens each year at Churchill Downs. Even those that aren’t horse racing fanatics fill inclined to not only watch but wager on this big event.
I found myself wondering just how much money was being wagered. What I found was staggering, considering we’re talking about something that lasts a mere 2 minutes.
How Much was Wagered on the Kentucky Derby & Attendance This Year
Last year was another record breaking year for the amount of money wagered on the Kentucky Derby. In 2018, there was $227.5 million bet on the entire race card from all-sources. Smashing the previous mark set just a year ago in 2017 of $209.2 million.
How Much Money Is Bet On Kentucky Derby Horse Racing
As far as the actual race itself, there was $149.9 million bet across all-sources. Another new record, beating the 2017 mark of $139.2 million.
While the money bet reached new limits, attendance numbers were down again. Only 157,813 showed up, but a lot of that was due to the poor conditions. While the number of attendees was only down slightly from the 158,070 that attended in 2017, it’s a far cry from the 170,513 that were at the big event in 2015.
I’ve put together a table that looks back at the betting history. As you can see, the cash intake on this has grown dramatically in the last two decades. There was just $140.4 million bet on the entire card back in 2003 and that’s about as much as what we now get on just the final race.
It’s important to keep in mind the numbers below don’t reflect the entire picture. The amounts are only for the money taken on North American racetracks.
It does not include figures from sportsbooks online or Las Vegas. It’s been reported that Vegas sportsbooks take in about an average of $33 million per month. There average take home in May is roughly $11 million more at $44 million. As for the online books, they were estimated to take in $26.8 million on the entire program in 2016. With around $16.6 million on the main event.
If you are considering wagering on this historic event this year or in the future, be sure to check out our Derby guide.
Churchill Downs Betting History – How Much Money Gets Bet on the Race
How Much Money Is Bet On Kentucky Derby Contenders
| Year | Attendance | On-Track Program | On-Track Race | All Sources Program | All Sources Race |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 157,813 | $39.2 | $24.6 | $227.5 | $149.9 |
| 2017 | 158,070 | $32.8 | $20.1 | $209.2 | $139.2 |
| 2016 | 167,227 | $23.5 | $11.3 | $192.6 | $124.7 |
| 2015 | 170,513 | $23.0 | $12.0 | $194.3 | $137.9 |
| 2014 | 164,906 | $23.4 | $11.9 | $186.6 | $129.2 |
| 2013 | 151,616 | $21.1 | $11.5 | $184.6 | $130.5 |
| 2012 | 165,307 | $23.7 | $12.3 | $187.0 | $133.1 |
| 2011 | 164,858 | $23.4 | $11.5 | $165.2 | $112.0 |
| 2010 | 155,804 | $21.5 | $11.1 | $162.7 | $112.7 |
| 2009 | 153,563 | $21.1 | $10.2 | $156.0 | $104.6 |
| 2008 | 157,770 | $24.2 | $12.1 | $164.7 | $114.6 |
| 2007 | 156,635 | $24.1 | $12.1 | $168.1 | $118.3 |
| 2006 | 157,536 | $24.5 | $12.1 | $175.1 | $106.2 |
| 2005 | 156,435 | $22.8 | $10.1 | $155.8 | $103.3 |
| 2004 | 140,054 | $19.2 | $9.5 | $142.8 | $99.3 |
| 2003 | 148,530 | $20.6 | $9.1 | $140.4 | $88.0 |