Kentucky Derby Betting Odds 2024 – Best Bets, Favorites and How To Bet

Kentucky Derby betting is one of the best ways to get closer to the action from Churchill Downs and roar on your chosen horses this May. Online betting sites are competing to offer the best 2022 Kentucky Derby odds, and provide players with extensive horse racing betting options for the “Fastest Two Minutes In Sports”. It’s therefore the perfect time to discover the best online sportsbook for you!

The 2022 Kentucky Derby will be the 148th running of this famous race. Horses bolt around the 1 ¼ miles of dirt racetrack in under two minutes. Only three-year-old horses are allowed to compete in the Kentucky Derby, which means horse racing betting fans must wager on a fresh set of runners each year.

Read on to discover more about the 2022 race, how to bet on the Kentucky Derby, the current odds for Kentucky Derby and some tips to consider ahead of the big race!

Our Kentucky Derby betting guide naturally begins with a look at the latest odds. Now the Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw has been made, we can look at the morning line odds with a better understanding of how the horses will fare. Below is the current list of horses running in the Derby, plus their latest odds.

Post Position Stats and Info (Ahead of the 2024 Kentucky Derby)

• The top three post positions in terms of winning percentage at the Kentucky Derby are #5 (11%, last won in 2017 by Always Dreaming), #10 (10.7%, last won in 2005 by Giacomo), and #15 (10.2%, last won in 2020 by Authentic). Since the expansion to 20 horses, Gate 10 has become even more successful
• #17 is the only post position without a winner in the history of the Kentucky Derby
• 2021 winner Mandaloun won from the #7 post position, which Crown Pride takes in 2022
• The Kentucky Derby post position draw took place on the Monday before the race

An early favorite to win the 2022 Kentucky Derby won’t be racing at Churchill Downs after suffering an injury in the build-up to the big race. Forbidden Kingdom was a +800 top pick with the bookmakers as recently as early April, but an epiglottis issue has forced him to miss the race. However, Tampa Bar Derby winner Classic Causeway will run despite his poor form, after trainer Brian Lynch decided it was worth a shot.

Kentucky Derby horses are only ever three years of age but most are vastly experienced, having raced at varying grades across the past year. But Taiba, winner of the Santa Anita Derby, could become the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby in only its third start since Leonatus in 1883. His trainer isn’t worried about the lack of experience, even though Taiba didn’t run competitively as a two-year-old. Santa Anita was also a stakes debut for Taiba, and the bookmakers have committed to backing the horse into +1200.

Zandon’s victory in the Blue Grass Stakes earned its owners the lions’ share of a $1m prize purse. And it means he heads to the Derby as the second-ranked horse in terms of points. Trainer Chad C. Brown has opted to keep Zandon training at Keeneland ahead of the Derby. His victory over Smile Happy at Blue Grass is seen by some as a viable precursor to a head-to-head battle down the home straight at Churchill Downs this spring.

Betting on the Kentucky Derby has never been easier thanks to the wide array of sportsbooks offering racing odds on every horse. This is a race like no other and odds setters spend hours pouring over the stats in order to deliver competitive horse racing odds for players.

• Before you place a horse racing bet it’s always advised you check out the latest USA online gambling sites and find a platform that’s right for you.
• Yet no matter who you bet with, the process of online betting for Kentucky Derby remains the same. First you will be asked to provide your details at sign-up, and make an initial deposit. Don’t forget that this is often the best time to trigger a promo or welcome bonus.
• From here, head over to your sportsbook’s horse racing page, where you’ll be able to find the Kentucky Derby odds. If you’re betting a few days out of the race, these odds will likely be in the Futures section of the racing page.
• Once you’ve found the race list, you can check out the stats for each horse and compare their odds to other runners. Simply pick a horse you want to back, select the bet type, enter your stake and hit ‘Place Bet’ to complete the process.

The withdrawal of Forbidden Kingdom in mid-April jumbled up the 2022 Kentucky Derby Odds. So much so that bookmakers weren’t initially sure who to favor. Most bookies were backing Epicenter for victory following his three victories in Road to the Kentucky Derby races. Zandon was also priced around the same, before emerging as the favorite after the post position draw gifted him Gate 10. But while some bookies are sticking with White Abarrio as their favorite, others are banking on Taiba.

And that’s perhaps not surprising. Taiba was nowhere near the list of frontrunners for this race until his victory at Santa Anita. Now suddenly he’s as narrow as +1200 in some racebooks to win the Derby!

Roughly 16% of all wagers on this market are so far backing Taiba, which goes some way to explaining why his odds have crushed in recent days. But there are arguably smarter picks out there for punters willing to explore the wider horse racing betting markets.

For example, Messier placed at both Los Alamitos and Santa Anita, while he won the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at that latter racecourse in February. The horse trained by Tim Yakteen is not to be overlooked for a top-two or top-three finish here.

When it comes to Kentucky Derby best bets, you might want to look at those placed in the middle of the betting. For now, that’s the likes of Charge It (+2000) and Smile Happy (+2000). They’ve both earned a strong post position – and their odds could tumble further between now and race day!