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.
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
RSS Feed