How to Bet on the Kentucky Derby: Full Kentucky Derby Betting Guide + Expert Horse Betting Advice from FanDuel TV’s Scott Hazelton
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With the Kentucky Derby coming up this Saturday, LINEUPS.com has put together a quick guide on how to bet on the 149th edition of the esteemed event. In addition to information on where people can wager on the Derby and what kind of bets people can place, Lineups also received some behind the curtain intel from FanDuel TV’s Scott Hazelton — a horse betting expert with industry experience dating back to 2004. Find more information on how to bet on the Kentucky Derby as well as relevant betting analysis below.
How to Bet on the Kentucky Derby
The primary platform for betting on the Kentucky Derby is FanDuel Racebook. FanDuel Racebook includes straight bets on the winner, place, and show as well as exacta bets, trifecta bets, superfecta bets, super high five bets, and box bets.
New users to FanDuel Racebook can claim a $20 derby bonus upon signup. Any derby bet that one places with the new user bonus will be refunded if it does not win up-to $20. In addition to the new user bonus, FanDuel Racebook — also known as FanDuel Racing — includes live TV streaming for horse races across the country.
FanDuel Racing Promo Code
| FanDuel Racing Promo Codes | Sign Up Links | FanDuel Racing Details |
|---|---|---|
| CO, IL, IN, LA, MD, MA, MI, NJ, NY, OH, PA, VA, WV & WY | Claim Now | $20 No Sweat Preakness Bet |
| AK, CA, DE, FL, KY, NH, NM, ND, OR, RI, SD & VT | Claim Now | $20 No Sweat Preakness Bet |
| AZ, IA, KS & TN | No Code - Click Through | FD Racing Not Available - Sportsbook Bet $5, Get $150 |
New users looking to bet on the Kentucky Derby can sign up for FanDuel Racebook with a great bonus from LINEUPS.com Promo code. Areas with legal sports betting can sign up with FanDuel Sportsbook with a $1,000 no sweat bet. This means they’ll get up to $1,000 in bonus bets if they lose their first wager with the mobile betting app. Plus, they’ll get a $20 no sweat bet with FanDuel Racebook on the Kentucky Derby. To get this bonus, a new user just needs to click through the following link to activate the FanDuel Sportsbook Promo Code. This bonus is available in MA, WV CO, IL, MI, PA, IN, MD, NJ, WY NY, OH, LA, and VA.
For areas without FanDuel Online Sportsbook, the $20 no sweat bet on the Kentucky Derby is still available. Like the sports betting bonus, this gives users up to $20 back on a losing Kentucky Derby bet in the form of a bonus bet.
Where to Bet on the Kentucky Derby
Bettors planning to wager on the upcoming Kentucky Derby have plenty of different options for placing bets online. FanDuel Racing is one of the top options available, with the platform gaining fans thanks to its daily fantasy sports, online sports betting, and online casino offerings. FanDuel is notable as the only platform that allows users to place both bets on the Kentucky Derby and different sporting events in one convenient place, with a shared wallet between FanDuel Sportsbook and FanDuel Racebook.
TwinSpires Racing, which is owned by Churchill Downs, Inc., is another online horse racing platform that actually has a mobile betting partnership with the Derby. DK Horse, which was launched by longtime FanDuel rival DraftKings, is a newcomer to the horse racing scene.
And, for retail sports bettors, there are plenty of racinos where anyone of legal betting age can place wagers on the Kentucky Derby, such as Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course in Ohio, Yonkers Raceway in New York, and Harrah’s Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.
Bets People Can Place on the Derby
| Type of Bet | Description |
|---|---|
| Straight Bet on the Winner | Straight bet on the horse to win the Derby |
| Straight Bet on the Place | Straight bet on the horse to come in second place |
| Straight Bet on the Show | Straight bet on the horse to come in third place |
| Exacta Bet | Bet on the correct order of the top two horses (parlays odds for each horse) |
| Trifecta Bet | Bet on the correct order of the top three horses (parlays the odds of each) |
| Superfecta Bet | Bet on the correct order of the top four horses (parlays the odds of each) |
| Super High Five | Bet on the correct order of the top five horses (parlays the odds of each) |
| Box Bets | Variations of each of the aforementioned parlays that aren't contingent on the finishing order of each horse (i.e., an exacta bet where the order of the top two horses does not matter. So long as you have each horse that finishes in the top two, you will win). Box bets have smaller payouts than their non-box counterparts |
There are plenty of different types of bets to place on the upcoming Kentucky Derby, and first-time bettors will want to know all about the different types of wagers. Some of the most common horse betting wagers are “straight bets” on the Win (the horse will win the race), Place (the horse will finish in first or second place) or Show (the horse will finish in first, second, or third place). Straight bets on the Win, Place, and Show tend to be the most popular types of horse racing bets, especially when it comes to the Kentucky Derby.
However, users can also get bigger payouts with different Exotic Bets when wagering on the Derby. These are essentially parlay bets on a single race, combining certain outcoes for large final odds. An Exacta bet, for example, has you predicting the horses to finish in first and second place in exact order. There are plenty of other versions of this type of bet, such as a Trifecta (first three horses predicted exactly), Superfecta (first four horses predicted exactly), and Super High Five (first five horses predicted exactly). As Hazelton described these Exotic Bets, “The difficulty increases vastly with every down the order of finish that you take.”
There are also “Box” versions of these types of bets for more flexibility. For example, an Exacta Box is a wager on which horses will finish in the top two spots, although it doesn’t matter which horse is in first or second. The payout won’t be as big as a standard Exacta bet, although there’s more margin for error.
Kentucky Derby Odds
Post Positions and Morning Line Odds for the Kentucky Derby pic.twitter.com/O6VZbjD5QV
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) May 1, 2023
With the Kentucky Derby getting ready to start, bettors will be looking for the most value on the board. Bettors can check out some of the latest odds on FanDuel Racebook, from the shortest shot on the board to the longshots and beyond. FanDuel Racing has Forte listed as the big favorite to win the Derby with 3/1 odds.
Hazelton said of the favorite: “Forte has been brilliant. He knows how to win races. He’s not the flashy type. He’s not going to blow the doors off and win by five, ten lengths, but he knows what his job is and he gets there. Even in his last race in the Florida Derby, he looked like he was not going to beat Mage. He found a way. He is an absolute, true race horse.”
Like Forte, Tapir Trice is a Todd Pletcher-trained horse facing 5/1 odds right now. Another horse facing single digit odds is Angel of Empire at 8/1. Looking down the board, five horses are facing 15/1 odds: Mage, Verifying, Jace’s Rain, Rocket Can, and Raise Cain. Both Skinner and Confidence Game are right behind with 20/1 odds. For anyone looking to swing for the fences, the longest odds on FanDuel Racing belong to Continuar and Reincarnate at 50/1. These odds are subject to change, so a Kentucky Derby bettor will want to check out FanDuel Racing or the facebook of their choice before betting on the Derby.
When it comes to looking for value in horses outside of Forte, Hazelton says “There are plenty of horses in here that look like they could step up to his level and there’s so many variables that go into this race. It’s a mile and a quarter distance, something that these horses have not encountered. They’ve not run against 19 other horses…A trip comes into play. If you get into some trouble, it’s tough to overcome that. There are so many fractions of a second that turn out to be crucial aspects in any horse race, especially in the Kentucky Derby. The value is anywhere you go in the Kentucky Derby, that’s the truth.”
How to View the Kentucky Derby
Date: Saturday May, 6, 2023
Channel: NBC Sports
The Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 6th. There are a few different options available right now for users looking to watch the event. For anyone watching the event on standard television, the Derby will be broadcast on NBC. Additionally, when it comes to streaming the event, the Derby will be live on the NBC Sports mobile app, NBCSports.com, and Peacock.
FanDuel TV (a rebranding of horse racing channel TVG) will also provide exclusive coverage of the event throughout the week of the Derby. Plus, all the Churchill Downs races will be broadcast on FanDuel TV throughout the week, except for races that have NBC-exclusive broadcasting rights. FanDuel users can watch FanDuel TV through the FanDuel TV+ app, which is available on Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Roku devices. When it comes to what FanDuel TV brings differently to the table, reporter Scott Hazelton says “Expertise. With TVG being an industry leader for twenty plus years, we’re all one team now… that’s the difference maker and we’ve got the ability to bring the product right into your home.”
Kentucky Derby Advice From Scott Hazelton
In addition to providing some additional insight, Scott Hazelton detailed his own personal favorite horse in the upcoming race. “My top play will be Angel of Empire. I think he is more than capable of going with Forte. They’ve never faced each other. He’s the 14, he’s drawn right next to Forte.” In addition, Hazelton said he believes that Two Phil’s and Verifying have the ability to come away with a win in this race.
In terms of general advice for the event, Hazelton says: “Have fun. Go with whatever instinct you have. Honestly. I know that we can provide you with all the information that we have, all the expertise, we’ll present it as detailed as you want it. But if you have a hunch, if you have an inclination, go on with it. Go with whatever you feel is the right approach. I can’t tell you how many times I had people come to the races with me, they’re betting names, they’re betting colors of the saddle cloth, colors of the silks of the horse. Whatever fancies you, just go on with it. That’s the fun of this. It is meant to be fun.”
