Learning how to bet horses successfully and make money on events like the Kentucky Derby is more than just win-place-show or exacta betting. And there are many ways to handicap a race beyond looking at just the past performance charts. Several angles can be useful and successful, and some angles are better than others.
- Kentucky Derby Betting Guide
- Kentucky Derby Betting Information Template
- Kentucky Derby Betting Sheets
The 147th running of the Kentucky Derby is fast approaching, expected to be held this coming 1st of May 2021, Sunday. Fans are getting more excited as the date approaches, and so are the bettors who are already planning which horses they’ll be betting on. What kind of strategy do these bettors have?
- Churchill Downs, Louisville. 2021 Kentucky Derby Odds Horse Racing.
- Our Kentucky Derby betting guide includes some crucial information about one of the most famous horse races in the world, the Kentucky Derby, which will take place on September 5, 2020. Keep reading our article and discover all about Kentucky Derby online betting sites, Kentucky Derby odds, and learn how to bet on the Derby.
- Live February 5th Kentucky Derby Odds, Lines and Information, Kentucky Derby Betting news, live horse racing odds. Bet on Kentucky Derby at. Kentucky Derby Odds RACE DAY: Saturday May 3rd 2014. A Step Ahead: 300-1: Aarons Orient: 300-1: Aces N Jacks: 300-1: Act: 250-1: Adams Note: 175-1: Afleet Accompli: 300-1: Afleet Moss: 175-1: Alamo.
Some of the horse racing bettors rely merely on the name of the horse. Others rely on the best betting sites. But the expert bettors tend to mention their “handicapped horses” or picks when betting. But what exactly does that mean? How do bettors choose their picks in handicapping? Keep on reading and find out here.
What is Handicapping in Horse Racing?
Handicapping is quite a known term for experienced bettors of any sport, including horse racing. It refers to a more strict and systematic approach in picking horse bets. For casual bettors, they tend only to choose the famous ones or base their choice on the horse’s assigned number in the race. But for handicappers, they go beyond that.
Handicappers know that casual betting won’t give them much more certainty on betting horses. They don’t rely on luck, but instead, they study the races. They read past performances of the potential horses and analyze those. They also observe the charts and leaderboards to find any indicators to give them an edge for winning.
TVG’s selections have analyses of the horses and guides on handicapping basics to help those who are enthusiastic about becoming a handicapper. Its picks and predictions are based on critical observations by looking at the history of performances and victories. You can check them out as a guide for betting.
In short, handicapping is the art of predicting the outcome of the race by critical analysis of the horses. This will be through thorough research of available information about them, including history and achievements, and coming up with a winning pick.
Why is Learning Handicapping Important in Horse Racing Betting?
Knowing how to handicap in horse racing is important when you’re planning to bet on a horse. Learning and understanding handicapping can give you the edge in horse racing. This can give you more accurate predictions. Therefore, you can have a higher chance of winning horse racing betting.
Although just like any other type of research, doing this can be tiring if you’re a beginner. The process of knowing every available data about the horses is indeed tedious and time-consuming work. But eventually, you will become comfortable doing this, and things will be smoother, easier, and faster.
Handicapping can help you decide on your bets intelligently. This way, the probability of your horse bet winning is higher than just solely relying on the benefit of luck. Take time to study the horse race, and you might get the price of the work you have done.
What are the Methods in Handicapping?
There are actually many methods for picking the winning horses, depending on the bettor. They either regularly check for updates in the Daily Racing Form or use other services that can provide the horses’ history and past performances. However, most of the bettors have these four common denominators that they look up— speed, form, class, and pace.
- Speed refers to the attempt to predict which horse is the fastest. Bettors need to check the horses’ earned speed ratings from their past races.
- Form tries to determine which horses are in shape.
- Class means the horses’ skill level and performance in their races.
- Pace seeks to foresee the early speed on the recent start of the race. This predicts who will take the lead in the early stage.
Bettors use different strategies to determine which element they should prioritize first. There are some who like to focus on speed as their main element, but some also set pace as theirs. They will then only use the other three factors as support or back up for their main information.
What are the Tools in Handicapping?
Past performances (PPs) are the most crucial handicapping tool for bettors. These PPs explain all of the horses’ necessary information in a race, including detailed data about their most recent races. Bettors can compare each horse’s performance to another to form and form an opinion about which horse they will bet on.
There are also serious bettors who use other services, such as The Sheets and Thorograph. They tend to be more expensive, but it shortens the long process of handicapping.
Race charts are also part of the beneficial tools in handicapping. While PPs focus on the horses, race charts focus on the race itself. You can analyze race charts to form a scenario on how the race was run. They can be purchased at some services.
Takeaway
These pieces of information about handicapping are only the basic ones. There is much more to it when you actually perform it with passion and perseverance. Your betting chances are much higher once you learned how to properly handicap. Learn now and start handicapping horses for this coming Kentucky Derby 2021.
Kentucky Derby Betting Guide
The Kentucky Derby is one of the oldest and most popular horse races in the United States. It attracts the attention of fans from all over the globe and most of them are looking to make some money by betting on the event.
Bookmakers and sportsbooks are more than happy to oblige and they offer plenty of different betting options, especially online. In fact, there are so many Kentucky Derby betting markets available on the internet that it might get slightly confusing for people who have limited experience in gambling on horse racing.
In this you’ll find all the main Kentucky Derby bets explained in detail, so you will know your betting options if you decide to give it a shot.
Kentucky Derby Betting Information Template
Before I get into that, let me provide a list of the best Kentucky Derby betting sites for those of you who are simply looking for a place to bet online.
Our top-rated Kentucky Derby betting sites are secure, offer high odds for the race, and have various other perks like juicy promotions, fast payouts, and mobile betting.
If you decide to join them, you will have the opportunity to place real money wagers on various betting markets. Let’s take a look at them and see how each works.
Let’s begin with explaining the traditional Kentucky Derby bets that are not much different from the betting options you can find for every horse race.
Race Winner
The race winner is the popular Kentucky Derby wager that’s available in every racebook that offers odds on the competition. You simply pick one of the horses and place a wager that it will finish first in the race.
If the horse wins the Kentucky Derby, your wager is successful, as simple as that. There are no complicated conditions here which is why so many people love this wager.
Here’s an example of Kentucky Derby odds for the outright winner. These are from the 2020 race.
Place and show wagers are lower risk wagers that come with a greater chance of winning but reduced payouts. With a place wager, you’re betting on your chosen horse to finish in the top two positions. With a show wager, you’re betting on your chosen horse to finish in the top three positions.
These wagers are especially good options if you want to back an outsider to do well, but don’t necessarily believe it will win the race.
Across the Board Wager
An across the board wager combines three bet into one. It’s a win bet, a place bet, and a show bet all on the same ticket.
If your chosen horse wins, you’ll get a payout for all three components of the wager. If your chosen horse finishes second, you’ll win on the place and show components. If it finishes third, you just win the show component.
This is another good option if backing outsiders. It comes with the chance of a very good payoff if your selection manages to win, while still paying out for a second or third place finish. You could also consider this option for backing one of the favorites if you want a bit of “insurance” should it fail to win but still finish in the top positions.
Note that in some parts of the world, bookmakers and betting sites offer what’s called an each-way option. This is similar to the across the board wager, but the wager is divided into just two parts. The first part is for the horse to win, the second part is for the horse to finish “in the places.” This usually means in the top three.
I’ve decided to group up these Kentucky Derby markets because the principle behind them is the same. You place a wager on multiple horses to all finish in the top positions.
The most popular exotic wager for the Kentucky Derby is the exacta. Here, you have to correctly predict the top two horses in the exact order.
With a trifecta or a superfecta, you have to successfully pick the top three and top four horses respectively. Again, you need to get the exact order correct.
The payouts you could get for any of these wagers can be very high, but they’re hard to win. They are an excellent choice if you are looking for a fun bet with a small stake and a large potential return.
Kentucky Derby Betting Sheets
The terms exacta and trifecta can be replaced by forecast and tricast in some betting sites. They represent the same Kentucky Derby wagers, they’re just different terms.
You could also go for the quinella, which is easier to win. Here you select two horses again, but you’re backing them to finish in the top two positions in any order.
Kentucky Derby Props Explained
Most of the betting markets I mentioned so far are available for any race. Since the Kentucky Derby is not any race, there are plenty of special wagers you can find. They are called props and they open the door to some exciting opportunities that a lot of people underestimate.
Let’s take a look at the most popular types of Kentucky Derby props and how they work.
There are plenty of props related to the Kentucky Derby winner. For example, you can often place a wager on the first letter of the winner’s name or on the number of words in the winner’s name.
On the surface, these markets seem random and entirely luck-dependent, but that’s not always the case. If you are willing to back a certain horse to win the Kentucky Derby, it might be a good idea to check the winner props before you go for the traditional race winner option.
If the horse’s name consists of three words, for example, it might be better to go for this market instead. The price could be slightly worse, but it’s possible that there are other horses with three words in their name that have a legitimate shot at winning the Kentucky Derby. That gives you a couple of more potential winners at a small cost.
Here are several examples of winner props offered for the race.
- First letter of the winner’s name
- Number of words in the winner’s name
- Starting gate of the winner
We know that Secretariat holds the Kentucky Derby record but nothing lasts forever. Some betting sites will offer odds on whether the time of the legendary horse will be beaten. There are also wagers on the winner’s finishing time and the time for the opening quarter, the first half mile, or more.
The principle behind them is usually the same. The bookmaker sets a line and you can bet on whether the time will be above or below that value.
Trainer and Jockey Props
You can also bet on certain outcomes relating to the trainers and jockeys at the Kentucky Derby. For example, you can place a wager on the age of the jockey or the trainer of the winning horse.
Once again, the racebook sets an over/under line for that purpose.
You could often find even more props on the Kentucky Derby and they can be related to anything. The bookmakers usually explain how each market works and it’s relatively easy to understand the concept behind it.
And yet, there might be an exception. If that’s the case, don’t hesitate to talk to the support and ask for additional details.
Final Words
I hope that the Kentucky Derby bets explained here can help you make good decisions when betting on the race. The good news is that most of them are available other popular races that run regularly.
If you are interested in some tips on those races, I encourage you to check the latest picks of our experts. They cover plenty of events throughout the year, so there’s a constant stream of betting previews with recommended wagers.
Coming back to the Kentucky Derby specifically, you might also be interested to read my post on how to bet on the Kentucky Derby online.