Kentucky Derby Betting Sites And Las Vegas Odds For 2024
Every first Saturday in May, there’s something very exciting happening at Churchill Downs in Kentucky, one of the world’s most popular horse races, the Kentucky Derby. For two weeks every year, Churchill Downs, located in Louisville Kentucky, is the epicenter of horse-racing action, with a two-week Kentucky Derby Festival that kicks off in late April with all sorts of events, food, music, etc.
The first ever Kentucky Derby was held in 1875, and over the years the race has drawn in more and more people. Not only is it the biggest horse race in the USA, but it also signifies the start of the Triple Crown, which is made up of two more races at Preakness and Belmont. For fans of this 20-horse race, it’s like the Super Bowl of thoroughbred racing, and the Kentucky Derby manages to draw in billions of dollars in bets around the globe annually.
Best Kentucky Derby Horse Betting Site For US Players In 2024
Bovada is the most reputable online horse racing site for United States players. They are legally licensed and are part of one of the largest betting companies in the industry: (Bodog). Bovada caters exclusively to US players and by far offer more horse betting options than any other site. They’ve never missed a payout, so if trust is important to you, then Bovada is an excellent choice.
Bet On Horses At Bovada Racebook
Most Reputable Racebooks Offering Betting Lines And Odds For The 2024 Kentucky Derby
| Racebook | Bonus Offer | Rating | USA Friendly | Play Now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bovada Racebook | 50% Max $1,000 | 4.9 | Yes | Play Now |
| Betonline Racebook | 50% Max $1,000 | 4.5 | Yes | Play Now |
A Brief History of the Derby
Technically speaking, the Kentucky Derby is classified as a Grade I Stakes Race, and only three-year-old thoroughbreds can race there. All colts and geldings can carry 126 pounds, while fillies carry only 121 pounds, and the race lasts for a mile and a quarter, or 10 furlongs. The prize purse of this race is a whopping $2 million, with the winner receiving over $1.4 million alone. And through all the build up, all the betting, all the mint juleps drank and haughty people in attendance, the race is over in barely over two minutes.
Of course, the Kentucky Derby didn’t become the most popular horse race on the planet due to sheer luck or happenstance. Within those two minutes of Vegas horse betting action, there has been more drama than you can calculate. The Run for the Roses, as the Derby is sometimes known, has more than earned its spot as the top race over the years.
The First Annual Kentucky Derby Race Of 1875
Although the first Derby was ran in 1875, it wasn’t exactly an overnight success. The first Derby ever ran was the same length of the Epsom Derby in England, the race which the Kentucky Derby is based on, and the crowd was packed. There were 10,000 in attendance. However, that large amount of people didn’t equate to the same sort of success we think of today; i.e. financial success. The rich and famous weren’t watching. No ladies had their fancy hats on. Nobody was sipping on whiskey-blended drinks. It was a bunch of common folks at the race, which isn’t a bad thing, of course; it’s just not a very lucrative thing.
The business surrounding the race would ultimately flounder and collapse, and in 1902 it was sold off to Matt Winn in Louisville, who put together the Churchill Downs Derby that we know of today. A new track, and a few new rules, and the race found a new audience. The three-year-old colts were strong and fast and exciting, and this really drew the people in. The thoroughbred industry began focusing in on this race as a yearly event, and it quickly became the first “Triple Crown” leg, with the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes to follow. The Kentucky Derby became a legitimate event in the early 1900s.
By 1925, radio stations in Chicago and New York were carrying the Kentucky Derby, and in 1949 it appeared on television for the first time. Once it became known as the place to be, the tradition of mint juleps and fancy hats started. People with more money could afford better seating, whereas those without were relegated to field seating. So, as money typically acts like cream, it simply rose to the top, and the friends and acquaintances of horse owners, as well as the Hollywood elite, started flocking to the Derby in droves.
But let’s not kid ourselves here. The Derby isn’t famous because of the entertainment elite; it’s famous for what the horses are able to do. In 1973, this became very apparent when the famous horse Secretariat shattered all previous records and won the race in 1:59 2/5 seconds. This record hasn’t been broken yet, and people who were alive for the event swear that they have never seen a horse as fast and competitive as Secretariat. And he’s far from the only horse to become famous thanks to the Derby.
What Draws So Many People In
The early Kentucky Derby was able to draw decent crowds because of America’s respect and love for horse racing at the time. However, these crowds weren’t exactly paying the bills and keeping the grounds kept. Though the Derby’s influence started growing like a weed once it was picked up by radio, and by the time television started showing the races, you couldn’t find a celebrity or one-percenter who wasn’t in attendance.
But why does the Kentucky Derby draw in so many people? There’s certainly nothing complicated about it. It’s the ambiance. Understand that besides the fancy drinks and expensive hats, which are part of the ambiance, that you’re also looking at generations of excellence in horse breeding with each stable. These are names that go back many years, with horse X being sired by a famous champion of yesteryear, and whose mother was a champion elsewhere, and on and on. The Kentucky Derby isn’t just an average horse race. It is a legacy event, and the horses stand out as supreme athletes.
Is Betting On The Kentucky Derby Legal?
We are not lawyers, so we can’t answer this question with certainty. However this site goes into a lot of detail about the legalities of betting online and offers an incredible wealth of information for people. As per the aforementioned site, it looks like special carve outs were made for several gambling laws specifically designed to give the horse racing industry a free pass. This essentially made Kentucky Derby and other horse betting 100% legal in the United States.
But it’s probably best you get your information from a genuine legal source as we are just interpreting what the experts say about it.
Details On The Kentucky Derby For 2024
- Date: May 7th, 2024
- Time: 6:44 pm
- TV Showing: NBC