The Kentucky Derby is touted as being the most exciting two minutes in sports. True, but the Run for the Roses experience goes on for a month. Mint juleps, hot-air balloon races, lawn parties, steamboat races, Kentucky Oaks (the Friday before the “big one” races), riverside concerts, celebrity sightings, private galas and hats. Lots and lots of hats. Let me tell you my great experience when I went to Churchill last year to watch Kentucky derby and do Kentucky derby betting there.

Louisville has so much to offer. They have a great history and great places to visits. But this seems to be invisible when Kentucky Derby is on.

I’m not a fashion editor, but I must tell you about my hat. You absolutely have to have a hat for the Kentucky Derby. The bigger, the more lavish, the better. Mine was brown horsehair (appropriate) with brown-tipped white feathers around the wide portrait brim.

I’m also not a food editor, but I feel compelled to share this coveted recipe for mint juleps:2 tablespoons super-fine sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

24 mint leaves, plus 4 for garnish

2 cups finely crushed ice

1 cup Kentucky bourbon

Combine sugar, lemon juice and mint leaves in a pitcher. Crush with a wooden spoon. Add ice and bourbon. Mix well. Pour into frosted silver cups and garnish with mint.

Legend has it that, on a hot day in 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, accompanied by his chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, arrived at West Point to give the commencement address. Mint juleps were being served. When asked by a waiter if he wanted a second mint julep, MacArthur wisely declined, saying, “No, thank you. I think I’ll stop now while I still know who is president.”

Looming over the whitewashed grandstand, infield and racetrack are the iconic twin spires of Churchill Downs, officially opened in 1875. Kentucky derby Betting booths and computers are everywhere, and there’s even a “Millionaire’s Row” floor for those who want to lose big. With so much to take in at the tracks, it’s easy to miss some of the sights inside.

I’ve spent many a first Saturday in May watching the Kentucky Derby on television, and every time the crowd is quieted as the glorious thoroughbreds are marched before the grandstands, as the University of Louisville Marching Band marches forward and more than 10,000 spectators begin singing Stephen Foster’s nostalgic “My Old Kentucky Home” — every single time, a tear or two slides down my cheek.

I’ll tell you — being there in person, standing and watching from the grandstand railing, gazing on the magnificent 3-year-old horses parading below and joining in singing with the exhilarated, fancifully bonneted throngs, it is definitely a two-hankie moment. I’ve definitely enjoyed my Kentucky derby betting experience at the race track itself.

Kentucky Derby is often called the “greatest two minutes of sports”. It is a prestigious event that every US citizens want to be a part of. Whether they will go down to Churchill to watch the race or they will do kentucky derby betting on their favorite horse, millions of people around the globe, especially in the US is excitedly awaiting Kentucky Derby. At Saturday's 137th Kentucky Derby, the long lines in front of Kentucky Derby clerks window conjured up a wild tableau of high hopes and cold cash, as bettors tried to pick that lucky winner.

“It can get pretty nerve-wracking,” said a clerk, who was working next to her daughter, 40-year-old Brooke Bond. “But it's also fun, because there are so many first-time bettors and you can see the people’s excitement on their faces. And look at those hats.”

The Derby's large field is traditionally hard to predict, and in the lead-up to Saturday's race, experts said the 137th running had few standouts and many possible winners. That made the choice for bettors all the more agonizing.

The tradition of betting on the Derby ranks up there with sipping mint juleps, and it shows: Last year, total wagering from all sources on the 13 races that went off on Kentucky Derby Day was $162.7 million, with the track returning $133.1 million, or 82 percent, to bettors, according to Churchill Downs. Saturday's on-track Derby wagering set a record of $12,606,249.

There were spur-of-the-moment bettors wagering on nothing but a horse's name, sharp-dressed women spilling julep-soaked cash on long shots and steely gamblers gripping dog-eared Racing Forms.

The serious gamblers laid down their bets with precision: “Sixty-dollar exacta box, three and six,” took their tickets and left. Casual bettors, far less sure of who they should pick in an anything-can-happen, 19-horse field, required some coaching.

“What's a trifecta?” one woman in a droopy Derby hat and diamond earrings slurred to the quiet groans and rolling eyes of patrons behind her. “I don't even know what race it is!”

There were plenty of betting strategies in front of Bennett's clerks Saturday. Many were betting the morning-line favorite, Dialed In, even as they knew that the favorite tends to win only about one-third of the time.

Some were betting less on a horse and more on a winning jockey, such as Calvin Borel, who had won three of the past four Derbys.

Others were poring over statistics on endurance, bloodlines and past victories, or leaving to stroll the paddock to view the horses' muscle tone or check to see if they were restless.

And then there were those who opted for less scientific methods, from Kentucky derby betting birthdays to taking the approach that eventually everyone bets a winner.

The Triple Crown is actually the Crown of Thoroughbred Racing around the world. This horse racing consists of three races for three-year-old thoroughbred horses that has a huge follower of bettors and viewers alike. That is why Triple crown betting is very popular, the excitement that people get if hoping that they will win the 3 important races plus the huge cash prize that awaits are some of the factors why it is very popular There are many Crown races all over the world, and each one consists of three prestigious thoroughbred races. For thoroughbred horses, the greatest achievement is winning all the three races in the Triple Crown.

This is not surprising since there are many great thoroughbreds around and winning all three races is a statement of superiority and excellence. Such races in different parts of the world are participated in by home grown thoroughbreds and thoroughbreds from prestigious stables. Thus, winning the race is indeed a very rare accomplishment. Not only will these horses be competing with one another, but these horses are competing with the best.

In the United States, this race is composed of the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, Kentucky; the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland; and the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York.

The Kentucky Derby is run at a distance of 1 1/4 miles, while the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes are run at 1 3/16 and 1 1/2 miles respectively. According to history, no other horse has ever won the United States Crown race since 1978. In addition, aside from the US Crown race, there is also the Triple Tiara, which consists of the Acorn Stakes in Belmont Park; Mother Goose Stakes in Belmont Park; and Coaching Club Oaks also in Belmont Park.

In the United Kingdom, the race consists of the Epsom Derby in Epsom, Surrey; the 2000 Guineas Stakes in Newmarket, Suffolk; and the St. Leger Stakes in Doncaster, Yorkshire. The Epsom Derby is run at 2,423 meters, while the 2000 Guineas Stakes and the St. Leger Stakes are run at 1609 and 2937 meters respectively.

On the other hand, in Japan, there are two sets of races which are considered as Triple Crowns. These two sets include the Japanese Crown race, and the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown. The Japanese Triple Crown is made up of the Satsuki Sho in Funabashi, Chiba; the Tokyo Yushun in Fuchu, Tokyo; and the Kikuka Sho in Kyoto, Kyoto.

These three Japanese Triple Crown races are also known as the Japanese Derby, the Japanese 2000 Guineas, and the Japanese St. Leger. In other words, the Japanese Triple Crown is more or less patterned after the United Kingdom's.

Correspondingly, the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown consists of the Oka Sho in Takarazuka, Hyogo; the Yushun Himba in Fuchu, Tokyo; and the Shuka Sho in Kyoto, Kyoto. There are other also Triple Crown races that are being initiated in other parts of the world such as Venezuela, Australia, Macau, Chile, Puerto Rico, Hongkong, Canada, Germany, Uruguay, Ireland, and Ecuador.

Wherever you are, you can always do Triple Crown betting at Sportsbook.ag we have over 100 tracks daily around the globe that you can bet on. So we are sure we can cover all those Triple Crown races around the world. Bet on Sportsbook now!

Every year in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby is held at Churchill Downs. It marks the first leg of the U.S. Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing, and is one of the most watched and attended stakes races in North America. Kentucky derby betting is also the most bet on sports event every year.

Kentucky has always been known for producing superior racehorses, and the Kentucky Derby is one of the oldest thoroughbred horse races in the U.S. Thanks to the efforts of Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr. who organized the Louisville Jockey Club to raise money to build quality racing facilities outside the city, he helped establish the Churchill Downs. It was named after his relatives John and Henry Churchill who had provided the land for the racetrack that became incorporated in 1937.

The Derby’s debut in front of a crowd of over 10,000 people, and fifteen three-year-old horses was held on May 17, 1875. In 1896, the distance of the race was changed from 1 ½ miles to 1 ¼ miles. A colt named Aristides was the first horse to win the inaugural Derby. Although the race proved a success, the track experienced financial difficulties. In 1902, Col. Matt Winn was able to bring together businessmen investors to acquire the facility and help the Churchill Downs prosper and make the Kentucky Derby the leading stakes race for three-year-old thoroughbred horses in North America. Successful Derby horses were soon sent by their owners to compete in the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore, Maryland and Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York held a few weeks after the Kentucky Derby. In 1919, Sir Barton became the first horse to win all three races. These three races offered the largest purses but were not referred to as the Triple Crown until 1930.

The Kentucky Derby was first nationally televised on May 3, 1952. The purse during the 1954 race exceeded $100,000 for the first time. And after this televised race, Kentucky derby betting had been one of the most participated betting event of all time. Secretariat ran the fastest time ever run in the Derby when he broke the record in 1973. The purse distribution changed in 2005 allowing horses finishing fifth to also receive a share of the purse, where previously only the first four finishers did.

As the Kentucky Derby’s popularity grew, a number of traditions were also established. The Mint Julep, an iced drink made of bourbon, mint, and sugar syrup, became the Derby’s traditional beverage. A popular Kentucky stew dish called Burgoo is also served at the Derby. Women dress up in fine outfits and wear large, stylish hats as they watch the horses parade before the grandstands to the song “My Old Kentucky Home” played by the University of Louisville Marching Band.

The most well-known tradition is the lush garland of 554 red roses awarded to the Kentucky derby winner each year. The idea of making the rose the race’s official flower originated in 1883 when it was traditional to present roses to ladies at a post-Derby party attended by Churchill Downs founder and president, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark. For this reason the Kentucky Derby is often referred to as “The Run for the Roses.”

The 138th running of the Kentucky Derby will be on Saturday, May 5, 2012 with a Post Time of 6:24 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time. There will be a full field of twenty horses for this race, which is considered the most prestigious thoroughbred horse race in North America, South America and, well, the Western Hemisphere. And there will also be millions of fans all over the world that will do Kentucky Derby betting and will yell to the tops of their lungs while the greatest two minutes of sports is happening.

The Kentucky Derby is also known as The Run for the Roses because of the bouquet of dark red roses that is traditionally draped over the victorious horse in the Winner’s Circle at Churchill Downs in Lexington, Kentucky. But Kentucky Derby is not the only race you need to bet on.

The Kentucky Derby is, along with it’s female counterpart the Kentucky Oaks, is the oldest continuously held race in all of thoroughbred racing. Not only that, but it’s also the oldest continuously held event in all of sports, period. Much longer than the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the NHL Finals, and longer even than the World Series (which wouldn’t count anyway because it was canceled in 1994 due to the players’ strike) in baseball.

There have been many great moments in the history of the Kentucky Derby. The horse with the worst betting odds to win the Kentucky Derby was way back in 1913, when a horse by the name of Donerail finished first under the wire. The odds on Donerail were a staggering 91 to 1 before the race!

The race has an unofficial nickname as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” or “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” because the race takes approximately two minutes to complete it’s mile and a quarter distance. However, that’s most of the time a misnomer because only four horses in the 137 year history of the race have ever run the race in two minutes or less.

A grand total of nine geldings have won the Kentucky Derby, but only two geldings have won it since 1929. Funny Cide won the race in 2003, and also won the Preakness Stakes. However, he was denied his chance to become the only gelding ever to win the Triple Crown when he lost the Belmont Stakes. Mine That Bird came out of nowhere in 2009, at over 50 to 1, to become another gelding to win the Triple Crown.

Three fillies have won. The first was Regret way back in 1915, but there wasn’t another filly to win the Derby until Genuine Risk in 1980. Winning Colors, a fine west coast horse, became the third and last filly to win the Kentucky Derby in 1988.

Don’t count kentucky oats out as one of the races that you would bet on. Kentucky derby betting is cool but it would be cooler if you got a lot of income and bets alternative to bet on.

Most horse enthusiasts, gamblers and horse racing lovers know exactly what the Triple Crown is. It's three exciting races spread throughout May and early June - the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. What most people don't know is how the Triple Crown came to be. Let’s take a look back down history lane and learn how Triple Crown betting all started. And at the end, thank those people who started it that’s why we are enjoying betting and watching on Triple Crown today.

Charles Hatton, a writer for the Daily Racing Form, is the man commonly credited with originating the term in 1930. He began using the term after Gallant Fox won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in 1930. However, the New York Times also deserves credit for the term as well, as they first used it in 1923. In 1923, these three races were not yet completely associated with each other, after all, the Preakness was run prior to the Derby at this time. It was after the Preakness in 1923 when The Times wrote that "Thomas J. Healey had Walter J. Salmon's Preakness winner, Vigil, and his owner wired today that he would be here Friday to see his colt try to capture his second classic in the triple crown of the American turf." "Here" referred to Louisville, Kentucky.

Later, in the '30s, The Times columnist Bryan Field would begin to regularly use the term. Field wrote for The Times from 1930 to 1944 and later became the manager of Delaware Park as well as a well-known race caller in the early days of horseracing on television.

When Gallant Fox was a contender in the Belmont, Field wrote that the idea of the "Triple Crown" was reached due to the prominence of these three races over all other Spring horse races for three year old Thoroughbreds.

At the time, however, the concept of the "Triple Crown" was still in its infancy. No other New York newspapers referred to the races in this manner and it wasn't until 1935 when Omaha won the Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont that these three races were regularly referred to as the "Triple Crown."

Although newspapers, race writers and journalists resisted the phrase and the notion of a "Triple Crown," one horse changed it all in 1937. His name was War Admiral. This was a triumphant time for Field and The Times as talk of the "Triple Crown" spread and has continued for over 70 years now.

Who will be the next winner of the Triple Crown? This is an age old question that is asked each and every year as the first Saturday in May (Derby Day) comes near. Many people do Triple Crown betting and hopes for another Triple Crown winner, but in the last 30years it is all a dissapointment. In 2006, the race world was certain Barbaro would take them all, but he suffered a fatal injury at the Preakness and couldn’t participate at Belmont. The last winner was affirmed in 1978 and the closest since then was Real Quiet, who lost the Belmont by a nose in 1998. Who knows what this year will hold and only the coming days will tell.

Not that upsets are not welcome but what would you call unpredictable in Kentucky derby is alike a miracle! So today we are giving tribute to the biggest upset in the history of Kentucky Derby betting . They are the horses who strived hard andsettle for the winner's circle.

Donerail (1913 Kentucky Derby, Odds at 91-1) - The bay colt by Hanover won no more than 10 races of his 62 starts. However, the Derby was meant to be. Despite competing with crucial fast pacers like Ten Point and Yankee Notions, Denerail is remembered to have been in safe striking distance and he remained there until the final turn. His upset is the greatest in the racing history and during the race; Donerail set a new track record, just a seconds more than the current record of approx. 2:00 minutes. He hit the wire half a length ahead of Ten Point and in 2:04 4/5. Bettors were paid as much as $184.90 for a $2 bet!

Mine That Bird (2009 Kentucky Derby, Odds at 51-1) - Calvin Borel, also famous for his Go-Rail riding techniques, had kept Mine That Bird neatly tucked along the rail for majority of the distance. The race had other stronger leads like Musket Man and Pioneerof the Nile, who looked as top prospects for the winning positions. However tables turned and the duo hanging around the rail burst into speed charging away from the field into a victory by six and three quarters incredible lengths. The longest shot after Donerail, Mine That Bird paid off $103!

Giacomo (2005 Kentucky Derby, Odds at 50-1) - This was sired by Holy Bull, who himself finished 12th in the Derby at 2-1 odds after having bumped when charging out of the starting gate. Giacomo rewrote history becoming one of the highest paid winners in the event's history paying the winner a whopping $1,639,600. Ridden by award winning jockey, Mike Smith, Giacomo nailed the Derby in 2:02.75.

There have been many other upsets in the sport's history but to be one in Kentucky Derby betting makes race horse truly special as he competes against the choicest of top class racing prodigies who have proven themselves time and again to earn a spot there. And speaking of upsets, I will share to you (for humor and laughs) the horse names that upsets me in the history of Kentucky Derby. Enjoy this too.

Gold Shower – 1943 Sure, you can say this horse’s name didn’t have the same meaning in the ’40s because back then there was nothing called a “golden shower.” But then what would you call what we did to the Axis powers? Woooooo! U-S-A! U-S-A!

Black Servant – 1921 Oh, olden days. Such a simpler time. And an incredibly more racist time. Black Servant was foaled at Idle Hour Stock Farm in Kentucky. Weird. I assumed 1920s Kentucky was far more progressive.

The Cock – 1916 The Cock only managed to place sixth at the 1916 Kentucky Derby. Probably because he had to lug around all that extra weight.

It is the second jewel of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown called the Preakness Stakes where it annually attracts a few of the best three-year-old racehorses in the country to the Pimlico Racetrack in the state of Maryland. Race horses that contend in the Preakness Stakes betting event consist of a handful that ran in the recently concluded Kentucky Derby just two weeks prior, and they also usually include several three-year-olds that skip the Derby for any number of reasons. The new contenders that get to compete in the Triple Crown are often dubbed as the “new shooters.”

Unlike the huge 20-horse stampede that is the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes consists of only 14 horses. The middle jewel of the Triple Crown series is led by contenders that won the Kentucky Derby in Churchill Downs. In Triple Crown tradition that’s only unique to the Preakness, the contending horses are kept in a single barn called the Stakes Barn. The winner of the Kentucky Derby is always front and center as the horse is given the first stall in the Stakes Barn.

In determining the leading contenders for the Preakness Stakes betting event, there are a few factors that should be considered. First is Kentucky Derby winners usually run well in the Preakness Stakes. There have been four Derby winners—War Emblem in 2004, Funny Cide in 2003, Smarty Jones in 2004, and Big Brown in 2008—who went on to win the Preakness Stakes since 2000. And during the same time, there were also three “new shooters” that won the Preakness Stakes: Red Bullet in 2000, Bernardini in 2006, and the filly Rachel Alexandra in 2009. These results have been commonplace in the Preakness Stakes during the past decades.

Preakness Stakes contenders that didn’t get to participate in the Kentucky Derby tend to be either late blooming three-year-olds that probably didn’t earn enough money to make the field, or maybe the grueling 1 ¼-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby was too much for the horse’s ability to endure in a race.

Whatever the reasons are, one advantage these “new shooters” have over the others that raced in the Kentucky Derby is their fresh legs. In contemporary Thoroughbred racing, top horses are essentially never raced again after just a short two-week break. And this is besides the fact that these contenders just came off a race like the Kentucky Derby, which is, without a doubt, the toughest race a horse will ever have to go through.

Being a loyal bettor of Kentucky derby betting and other horse race events for many years now, I can say that after losing a lot of bets, I’ve already learn some tactics that helped increase my winning. Today I’m going to share it to all of you guys because I don’t want you to experience what I’ve experience (all starter bettors are bullied by experience bettors and had just become their prey and cow cash). Read on and learn Kentucky derby betting tips.

So many outside forces govern our selection process of the Kentucky Derby that it is sometimes easy to forget that the “Run for the Roses” needs to be handicapped like it is the fourth race on the card at Aqueduct on a Wednesday afternoon. Facets of a race that would normally never be considered somehow have a way of rearing their ugly head on the First Saturday in May and tend to sway us off of a sensible path. Aside from the black and white running lines we find in the Daily Racing Form, it is just as crucial to have a solidified foothold on the trappings that could possibly snare the avid horseplayer come Derby Day. Here are a few nuggets of wisdom that I have learned the hard way over the years.

1. The faster horses have the better chance to win the race. Just because it is the Kentucky Derby, a 45-1 shot who has only a maiden win to their credit is not going to suddenly “wake up” and run like Secretariat.

2. Don’t bet a runner because they have a catchy name, this only works in the movies.

3. Don’t listen to the media experts. The worst thing that can happen to you is to be talked off of a horse you like by some “professional” handicapper. People on TV have no more of an idea what is going to happen than you do. If they were truly professionals they would not be broadcasting their picks to thousands of strangers.

4. Don’t avoid a horse because someone you hate is betting on them.

5. Never accept a prop bet that there will be a Triple Crown winner. If you really want to bet on Triple Crown and you are just a beginner, just start on small bets. This is the hardest accomplishment in sports to achieve and it has only been done eleven times in over 130 years.

6. Don’t become smitten with sentimental Derby stories. A 97 year old owner that has conquered addiction and bankruptcy wins the public’s sympathy, but won’t do you a lick of good in the final furlong.

If you are really concentrated in Kentucky derby betting, then use good sense and sound handicapping principles and in a few days you just might find yourself draped in a blanket of roses! Above all these tips, one important thing that you shouldn’t forget is to Enjoy! Soak in every minute of the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports”. It only comes once a year and is a piece of Americana that should be treasured. So cherished every moment and just enjoy!