How To Bet On The 2024 Kentucky Derby

The 2024 Kentucky Derby will take place on May 4 at Churchill Downs in Louisville. The main event typically kicks off between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET.

As mentioned, the Kentucky Derby takes place every year on the first Saturday of May. It was first run on May 17, 1875, and this year marks the 150th running of the event.

The Kentucky Derby is the first race of the Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. It’s the only Triple Crown race that’s been run annually, making it the oldest perennial major sporting event in the United States.

While several sportsbooks offer wagers on horse racing, FanDuel Sportsbook stands out as the best place to bet on horse racing.

FanDuel Racing uses fractions, a common odds format used in horse racing (i.e., 5/1 or 13/2).

You might be more familiar with American odds. For example, 5/1 odds are equivalent to +500 odds. In both cases, you could earn $500 in profit on a $100 wager.

Similarly, a horse with 13/2 odds is equivalent to +650 odds.

One unique part of betting on horse racing is that the odds for your bet don’t lock until the final odds at post time, regardless of what they were when you placed your bet.

So, if you bet on a horse with 9/1 odds and those odds shorten to 7/1 by the start of the race, your bet will then have 7/1 odds.

There are three main types of straight bets for horse racing:

• Win Bet: Horse finishes 1st
• Place Bet: Horse finishes 1st or 2nd
• Show Bet: Horse finishes 1st, 2nd or 3rd

The most straightforward way to wager on horse racing is to simply pick which horse will win, similar to a moneyline bet in other sports. In horse racing, this is called a “win” bet.

You can also bet on a horse to finish first or second, which is called a “place” bet.

A “show” bet is a wager on a horse to finish in the top three. These bets have lower odds and payouts than a “win” bet because they are more likely to occur.

Lastly, there are various “exotic bets” that you can choose from. A common type of exotic bet is the exact finishing order:

• Exacta: Correctly picking 1st and 2nd place
• Trifecta: Correctly picking 1st, 2nd and 3rd place
• Superfecta: Correctly picking 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th place

Picking the correct finishing order is more difficult, so these bets come with higher odds and payouts than basic straight bets.

You can bet on horse racing through the FanDuel Sportsbook app in the following states: CO, IL, IN, LA, MA, MD, MI, NY, OH, PA, VA, WV and WY.

These states require you to download a separate FanDuel Racing app to wager on horse racing: AR, CA, CO, DE, FL, IL, IN, LA, KY, MA, MD, MI, MN, ND, NH, NY, NM, OH, OR, PA, RI, SD, WA, WV, WY and VA.

FanDuel is also doing a “no-sweat” bet for the Kentucky Derby, which gives bettors their stake back up to $10 if the horse they bet on doesn’t win.

Signing up to bet on the Kentucky Derby is nearly identical to the sign-up process for a sportsbook.

• First, verify that you’re located in a state where horse racing is legal and you’re old enough to wager (21+ in most states).
• After that, download the mobile racing app of your choice and provide the necessary personal information so the racing app can verify your identity.
• Once that’s complete, you can bet on any race you want. While the Kentucky Derby is the biggest race of the year, you’ll also be able to bet on the other two Triple Crown races (Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes), as well as the countless number of races held daily across the country.

Once you’ve joined a racing app, the next step is depositing funds to wager with. The process is similar to the deposit process for sports betting and is relatively painless.

Most racing apps feature a variety of deposit methods, including:

• Debit/credit cards
• PayPal
• Online banking
• Venmo
• Apple Pay

All of these methods are trusted options that provide quick and easy transactions. That said, it’s worth setting this up a few days before the Kentucky Derby to make sure there aren’t any problems.

Yes, Kentucky legalized sports betting in September 2023. The state legalized in-person sports betting first before legalizing mobile sports betting two weeks later.

That said, Kentucky has allowed betting on horse racing for many years, as sports betting and horse race betting are regulated separately. Kentucky’s online sportsbooks don’t accept bets on the Kentucky Derby, so bettors in the state must either place their Kentucky Derby bets in person or through the TwinSpires app.

DraftKings and Caesars also have separate apps for betting on horse racing, so FanDuel isn’t the only one.

Secretariat made history in 1973 by running the Kentucky Derby in 1:59, which was 1/2 lengths ahead of Shams, the second-place horse. The race had a then-record attendance of 134,476 and was broadcast on radio and television across the country.

Secretariat was the favorite heading into the match despite coming in third at the Wood Memorial Stakes two weeks prior. He would go on to win the Triple Crown with victories at the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes.

Thirteen horses have won the Triple Crown since the three races were inaugurated in 1875:

• 1919: Sir Barton
• 1930: Gallant Fox
• 1935: Omaha
• 1937: War Admiral
• 1941: Whirlaway
• 1943: Count Fleet
• 1946: Assault
• 1948: Citation
• 1973: Secretariat
• 1977: Seattle Slew
• 1978: Affirmed
• 2015: American Pharoah
• 2018: Justify

This year’s Triple Crown will look a little different, however, as the Belmont will be run at Saratoga Race Course (which is 1 1/4 miles shorter than Belmont Park) due to construction.

Photo by Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images