How to Bet the Kentucky Derby
By TVG Staff
Updated May 2, 2024
The 2024 Kentucky Derby is one of the best betting events of the year. With a field of 20, the biggest in American horse racing, the challenge is great but the payouts are great as well for anyone who is able to solve the puzzle correctly. And, the race is coming up on Saturday, May 4 at Churchill Downs.
Part of the fabled Triple Crown of horse racing, the Kentucky Derby is regarded as one of the most important thoroughbred races on the planet. With that reputation, the race inspires people to get involved. The best way for anyone to become a part of the excitement of the Kentucky Derby is to bet on the race!
Staged on the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby is the highlight of an amazing weekend of betting at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, with the race carrying an amazing $5 million in prize money, up from $3 million in previous years. The 150th Kentucky Derby will be run on May 4, 2024, the race has been drawn, so now is the time to learn about what bets are available and start thinking about how you want to bet the Kentucky Derby online!
Kentucky Derby 2024 Bets
Well suiting America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby offers a full menu of horse racing wagers.
Win bets are a classic for a reason, and this wager is perennially a popular Kentucky Derby pool. Most horseplayers, both experienced and new, frequently keep it simple when they find a horse they like, and bet them on the nose. If the horse wins, a win bet cashes. If they don’t, your win wager doesn’t. If your pick in a race is giving you good value, a bigger price than the horse’s chance of winning, a win wager is a wise move.
If you want a little insurance if a horse does not win, especially on a horse with mid-range or longshot odds, you can instead bet your horse to place or show. A horse must finish first or second to cash a place bet; for a show bet the horse must run third or better. The payouts are lower than for win bets, but you are also less likely to end up with a losing ticket.
You can also take a chance at a bigger payoff by trying to predict the finishing order of the race. In an exacta wager, you pick the first two finishers in the right order. Trifecta (first three horses, in order) and superfecta (first four horses, in order) wagers can pay even more, but they are also significantly more difficult to hit!
Other exotic wagers also involve picking not only the Kentucky Derby winner but the winners of other races before or after it, like the Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6. Our team at TVG can help you with up-to-the-minute handicapping information, and a risk-free bet for new customers makes this the perfect time to get involved!
Another part of the fun of the Kentucky Derby is that you don’t even have to wait until Kentucky Derby race day to place your bets! Churchill Downs offers early betting in all Kentucky Derby pools, with the regular wagers opening on Kentucky Oaks day.
You can also bet early with the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which can often get you a better price on your pick than you’ll see in the morning line odds or on race day. For the 2024 Kentucky Derby, they offered six different pools between October and April, each open over the course of a weekend. The Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools for 2024 have concluded, but keep your eyes out for the 2025 pools to start in the fall!
Why Wager on the Kentucky Derby?
Though you do not have to wager on horse racing to enjoy it, wagering on horse racing is as old as the sport itself. It is fun to have an interest in the race, and to put your wits to the test, and having a bet on the race is an exciting and time-honored way to do so.
Even if you cannot make it to Louisville to see the Kentucky Derby in person, you can still be fully involved and fully invested in the race by making an account right here at TVG and betting the race online. After all, only about 100,000 people get to be at Churchill Downs on Derby Day. Most of the racing world, from experts to casual fans, experience the race by watching and betting online!
Betting the race at a level that is right for you makes you feel like a part of the action from the moment the gates swing open until the horses’ noses hit the finish line. And, though not everybody can own or train a horse in the Kentucky Derby, everybody can have a piece of the winner by betting them.
Feeling like part of the action is what horse racing is all about, no matter where you are. Betting on the Kentucky Derby, whether at the windows in Louisville or from the comfort of home, is the best way to do that!
Kentucky Derby Main Contenders
The Kentucky Derby odds are subject to change between now and the day of the race as horses make their final preparations and handicappers make sense of their post positions and the pace scenario.
Fierceness has been named the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Sometimes the best betting situation is to be able to toss a favorite in a competitive race, though, and this is a great time to toss that morning-line favorite. After all, Fierceness is brilliant on his best, but he comes up flat about as often as he shows his brilliance. Even though the 17-hole is about as well as Fierceness could have drawn, outside of the rest of the speed (unless Epic Ride draws in), he faltered from a similarly plum gate in the Holy Bull (G3). With Fierceness, rail-drawn Dornoch, and blinkers-on Track Phantom likely to set a fiery pace, he’ll have to go fast, and he is too inconsistent to merit betting short odds in the Derby.
Morning-line second choice Sierra Leone (3-1) makes a lot of sense, however. Though he drew the 2 gate, his closing style makes it more likely that he can drop back and find somewhere clear before the real running begins. Thanks to Fierceness, Dornoch, and Track Phantom, Sierra Leone should get a fair chance as an off-pace runner. His rally in the Blue Grass was nothing short of impressive: he started rallying early and was able to sustain that run like a horse who has truly classic stamina.
Another favorite for whom it will pay to have some skepticism is Forever Young. It is fair to say he is the best-proven Japan-based horse to make it to the Kentucky Derby. He is undefeated in five starts, he overcame a distance much too short for him in the Saudi Derby (G3), and showcased his stamina in the UAE Derby (G2). However, every UAE Derby winner to date that has shown up in the Kentucky Derby has faltered, meaning that Forever Young has class to prove. As a long shot, he would have appeal. As the likely third Kentucky Derby betting choice behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness, he will be an underlay.
Catching Freedom is in a good position to continue the more prominent role that the Louisiana Derby has had in the Run for the Roses in recent years. His off-pace style should get a good setup against speedsters like Fierceness and Dornoch. And, his jockey Flavien Prat has been as dependable a Kentucky Derby jockey as possible. He has lined up in the Kentucky Derby starting gate six times and hit the board five of those six times.
Part of why the Kentucky Derby is such an exciting betting race, however, is that there can be excellent long shots to bet in such a big field. And so it goes in the 2024 Run for the Roses, where Honor Marie is the best bet.
Second in the Louisiana Derby behind Catching Freedom, Honor Marie returns to the site of his victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) last fall. That came in the third start of his form cycle, just as the Kentucky Derby will, giving him upside to move forward off of his Louisiana Derby. That was an improvement off his seasonal debut in the Risen Star, and all of the speed entered in the Kentucky Derby should give Honor Marie a good chance for the right trip as long as the track is playing fairly. He also has a smashing distance pedigree, being by stoutly-bred Honor Code out of a Smart Strike half to Rule of Law, who won the St. Leger (G1) at 1 ¾ miles.
Consider Just a Touch for a piece of the exotics as well. He will be forwardly placed behind a hot pace, but his outing in the Blue Grass proved that he can box on in such a situation. In that race, he prompted a sharp pace, kept going to open up in the lane, and was only run down by an impressive closing run from Sierra Leone. In the Kentucky Derby, if he can tuck into the next flight behind the likes of Dornoch, Track Phantom, Fierceness, and Epic Ride (who drew in with the Tuesday scratch of Encino), he could get first run on those pacesetters and be game enough to fight on for the frame—think, like the trip Two Phil’s got when he finished second to late-running Mage in the 2023 Kentucky Derby.
Review the Derby Prep Races
A time-tested way to narrow down Kentucky Derby contenders is to assess the form of the major prep races, otherwise known as the Road to the Kentucky Derby events. Horses who do well in the later prep races are typically coming into the Derby in strong form, and they have beaten other well-regarded horses on the way to the big race.
These are the most important prep races for the Kentucky Derby. The winner of each race is virtually guaranteed a spot in the Kentucky Derby if they are trained by an eligible trainer, and Kentucky Derby winners are often last-out prep winners. Horses who gain Kentucky Derby points in these preps also often run well on the big day at Churchill Downs.
| Date | Race | Venue | Points | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 17 | Risen Star Stakes (G2) | Fair Grounds | 50-25-15-10-5 | Sierra Leone |
| February 24 | Rebel Stakes (G2) | Oaklawn | 50-25-15-10-5 | Timberlake* |
| March 2 | Fountain of Youth (G2) | Gulfstream Park | 50-25-15-10-5 | Dornoch |
| March 2 | Gotham (G3) | Aqueduct | 50-25-15-10-5 | Deterministic |
| March 2 | San Felipe (G3) | Santa Anita Park | 50-25-15-10-5 | Imagination ** |
| March 9 | Tampa Bay Derby (G3) | Tampa Bay Downs | 50-25-15-10-5 | Domestic Product |
| March 23 | Jeff Ruby Steaks | Turfway Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Endlessly |
| March 23 | Louisiana Derby (G2) | Fair Grounds | 100-50-25-15-10 | Catching Freedom |
| March 30 | Florida Derby (G1) | Gulfstream Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Fierceness |
| March 30 | UAE Derby (G2)* | Meydan Racecourse | 100-50-25-15-10 | Forever Young |
| March 30 | Arkansas Derby (G1) | Oaklawn Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Muth *** |
| April 6 | Wood Memorial (G2) | Aqueduct | 100-50-25-15-10 | Resilience |
| April 6 | Blue Grass (G1) | Keeneland | 100-50-25-15-10 | Sierra Leone |
| April 6 | Santa Anita Derby (G1) | Santa Anita Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Stronghold |
Bet the 2024 Kentucky Derby with TVG
Our dedicated team of experts is always on hand to offer in-depth analysis of all the contenders to help you with your Derby picks.
Keep an eye out on the latest Kentucky Derby odds to see where your horse stands and place your bets with us, TVG being your trusted one stop destination for legal online picks.
If you're interested in learning more about betting with our partners, we recommend checking out the FanDuel Kentucky Derby website. This hub offers valuable information on the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports, take a look to see how you can get involved!
Get up to $100 Back
If you don't win your first single-horse win betFeatured TVG Promotions
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If you don't win your first single-horse win betBy TVG Staff
Updated May 2, 2024
The 2024 Kentucky Derby is one of the best betting events of the year. With a field of 20, the biggest in American horse racing, the challenge is great but the payouts are great as well for anyone who is able to solve the puzzle correctly. And, the race is coming up on Saturday, May 4 at Churchill Downs.
Part of the fabled Triple Crown of horse racing, the Kentucky Derby is regarded as one of the most important thoroughbred races on the planet. With that reputation, the race inspires people to get involved. The best way for anyone to become a part of the excitement of the Kentucky Derby is to bet on the race!
Staged on the first Saturday in May, the Kentucky Derby is the highlight of an amazing weekend of betting at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, with the race carrying an amazing $5 million in prize money, up from $3 million in previous years. The 150th Kentucky Derby will be run on May 4, 2024, the race has been drawn, so now is the time to learn about what bets are available and start thinking about how you want to bet the Kentucky Derby online!
Kentucky Derby 2024 Bets
Well suiting America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby offers a full menu of horse racing wagers.
Win bets are a classic for a reason, and this wager is perennially a popular Kentucky Derby pool. Most horseplayers, both experienced and new, frequently keep it simple when they find a horse they like, and bet them on the nose. If the horse wins, a win bet cashes. If they don’t, your win wager doesn’t. If your pick in a race is giving you good value, a bigger price than the horse’s chance of winning, a win wager is a wise move.
If you want a little insurance if a horse does not win, especially on a horse with mid-range or longshot odds, you can instead bet your horse to place or show. A horse must finish first or second to cash a place bet; for a show bet the horse must run third or better. The payouts are lower than for win bets, but you are also less likely to end up with a losing ticket.
You can also take a chance at a bigger payoff by trying to predict the finishing order of the race. In an exacta wager, you pick the first two finishers in the right order. Trifecta (first three horses, in order) and superfecta (first four horses, in order) wagers can pay even more, but they are also significantly more difficult to hit!
Other exotic wagers also involve picking not only the Kentucky Derby winner but the winners of other races before or after it, like the Daily Double, Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, and Pick 6. Our team at TVG can help you with up-to-the-minute handicapping information, and a risk-free bet for new customers makes this the perfect time to get involved!
Another part of the fun of the Kentucky Derby is that you don’t even have to wait until Kentucky Derby race day to place your bets! Churchill Downs offers early betting in all Kentucky Derby pools, with the regular wagers opening on Kentucky Oaks day.
You can also bet early with the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which can often get you a better price on your pick than you’ll see in the morning line odds or on race day. For the 2024 Kentucky Derby, they offered six different pools between October and April, each open over the course of a weekend. The Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools for 2024 have concluded, but keep your eyes out for the 2025 pools to start in the fall!
Why Wager on the Kentucky Derby?
Though you do not have to wager on horse racing to enjoy it, wagering on horse racing is as old as the sport itself. It is fun to have an interest in the race, and to put your wits to the test, and having a bet on the race is an exciting and time-honored way to do so.
Even if you cannot make it to Louisville to see the Kentucky Derby in person, you can still be fully involved and fully invested in the race by making an account right here at TVG and betting the race online. After all, only about 100,000 people get to be at Churchill Downs on Derby Day. Most of the racing world, from experts to casual fans, experience the race by watching and betting online!
Betting the race at a level that is right for you makes you feel like a part of the action from the moment the gates swing open until the horses’ noses hit the finish line. And, though not everybody can own or train a horse in the Kentucky Derby, everybody can have a piece of the winner by betting them.
Feeling like part of the action is what horse racing is all about, no matter where you are. Betting on the Kentucky Derby, whether at the windows in Louisville or from the comfort of home, is the best way to do that!
Kentucky Derby Main Contenders
The Kentucky Derby odds are subject to change between now and the day of the race as horses make their final preparations and handicappers make sense of their post positions and the pace scenario.
Fierceness has been named the 5-2 morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby. Sometimes the best betting situation is to be able to toss a favorite in a competitive race, though, and this is a great time to toss that morning-line favorite. After all, Fierceness is brilliant on his best, but he comes up flat about as often as he shows his brilliance. Even though the 17-hole is about as well as Fierceness could have drawn, outside of the rest of the speed (unless Epic Ride draws in), he faltered from a similarly plum gate in the Holy Bull (G3). With Fierceness, rail-drawn Dornoch, and blinkers-on Track Phantom likely to set a fiery pace, he’ll have to go fast, and he is too inconsistent to merit betting short odds in the Derby.
Morning-line second choice Sierra Leone (3-1) makes a lot of sense, however. Though he drew the 2 gate, his closing style makes it more likely that he can drop back and find somewhere clear before the real running begins. Thanks to Fierceness, Dornoch, and Track Phantom, Sierra Leone should get a fair chance as an off-pace runner. His rally in the Blue Grass was nothing short of impressive: he started rallying early and was able to sustain that run like a horse who has truly classic stamina.
Another favorite for whom it will pay to have some skepticism is Forever Young. It is fair to say he is the best-proven Japan-based horse to make it to the Kentucky Derby. He is undefeated in five starts, he overcame a distance much too short for him in the Saudi Derby (G3), and showcased his stamina in the UAE Derby (G2). However, every UAE Derby winner to date that has shown up in the Kentucky Derby has faltered, meaning that Forever Young has class to prove. As a long shot, he would have appeal. As the likely third Kentucky Derby betting choice behind Sierra Leone and Fierceness, he will be an underlay.
Catching Freedom is in a good position to continue the more prominent role that the Louisiana Derby has had in the Run for the Roses in recent years. His off-pace style should get a good setup against speedsters like Fierceness and Dornoch. And, his jockey Flavien Prat has been as dependable a Kentucky Derby jockey as possible. He has lined up in the Kentucky Derby starting gate six times and hit the board five of those six times.
Part of why the Kentucky Derby is such an exciting betting race, however, is that there can be excellent long shots to bet in such a big field. And so it goes in the 2024 Run for the Roses, where Honor Marie is the best bet.
Second in the Louisiana Derby behind Catching Freedom, Honor Marie returns to the site of his victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) last fall. That came in the third start of his form cycle, just as the Kentucky Derby will, giving him upside to move forward off of his Louisiana Derby. That was an improvement off his seasonal debut in the Risen Star, and all of the speed entered in the Kentucky Derby should give Honor Marie a good chance for the right trip as long as the track is playing fairly. He also has a smashing distance pedigree, being by stoutly-bred Honor Code out of a Smart Strike half to Rule of Law, who won the St. Leger (G1) at 1 ¾ miles.
Consider Just a Touch for a piece of the exotics as well. He will be forwardly placed behind a hot pace, but his outing in the Blue Grass proved that he can box on in such a situation. In that race, he prompted a sharp pace, kept going to open up in the lane, and was only run down by an impressive closing run from Sierra Leone. In the Kentucky Derby, if he can tuck into the next flight behind the likes of Dornoch, Track Phantom, Fierceness, and Epic Ride (who drew in with the Tuesday scratch of Encino), he could get first run on those pacesetters and be game enough to fight on for the frame—think, like the trip Two Phil’s got when he finished second to late-running Mage in the 2023 Kentucky Derby.
Review the Derby Prep Races
A time-tested way to narrow down Kentucky Derby contenders is to assess the form of the major prep races, otherwise known as the Road to the Kentucky Derby events. Horses who do well in the later prep races are typically coming into the Derby in strong form, and they have beaten other well-regarded horses on the way to the big race.
These are the most important prep races for the Kentucky Derby. The winner of each race is virtually guaranteed a spot in the Kentucky Derby if they are trained by an eligible trainer, and Kentucky Derby winners are often last-out prep winners. Horses who gain Kentucky Derby points in these preps also often run well on the big day at Churchill Downs.
| Date | Race | Venue | Points | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 17 | Risen Star Stakes (G2) | Fair Grounds | 50-25-15-10-5 | Sierra Leone |
| February 24 | Rebel Stakes (G2) | Oaklawn | 50-25-15-10-5 | Timberlake* |
| March 2 | Fountain of Youth (G2) | Gulfstream Park | 50-25-15-10-5 | Dornoch |
| March 2 | Gotham (G3) | Aqueduct | 50-25-15-10-5 | Deterministic |
| March 2 | San Felipe (G3) | Santa Anita Park | 50-25-15-10-5 | Imagination ** |
| March 9 | Tampa Bay Derby (G3) | Tampa Bay Downs | 50-25-15-10-5 | Domestic Product |
| March 23 | Jeff Ruby Steaks | Turfway Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Endlessly |
| March 23 | Louisiana Derby (G2) | Fair Grounds | 100-50-25-15-10 | Catching Freedom |
| March 30 | Florida Derby (G1) | Gulfstream Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Fierceness |
| March 30 | UAE Derby (G2)* | Meydan Racecourse | 100-50-25-15-10 | Forever Young |
| March 30 | Arkansas Derby (G1) | Oaklawn Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Muth *** |
| April 6 | Wood Memorial (G2) | Aqueduct | 100-50-25-15-10 | Resilience |
| April 6 | Blue Grass (G1) | Keeneland | 100-50-25-15-10 | Sierra Leone |
| April 6 | Santa Anita Derby (G1) | Santa Anita Park | 100-50-25-15-10 | Stronghold |
Bet the 2024 Kentucky Derby with TVG
Our dedicated team of experts is always on hand to offer in-depth analysis of all the contenders to help you with your Derby picks.
Keep an eye out on the latest Kentucky Derby odds to see where your horse stands and place your bets with us, TVG being your trusted one stop destination for legal online picks.
If you're interested in learning more about betting with our partners, we recommend checking out the FanDuel Kentucky Derby website. This hub offers valuable information on the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports, take a look to see how you can get involved!