The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race with a two million dollar purse, and is open to three year old thoroughbred horses of either gender. It is held every year in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, and takes place on the first Saturday in the month of May. It marks the end of the two week long Kentucky Derby Festival, which is centred around horses and horse racing. The Kentucky Derby measures in at one and one quarter miles long. Colts running the race must carry one hundred and twenty-six pounds, while fillies must carry one hundred and twenty-one.
The Kentucky Derby has also been called “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports,” because of the intensity with which it is run and the breeding of the horses involved. Along with the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, the Kentucky Derby makes up the US Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. In order to win the Triple Crown, a horse must win all three of the races. Only eleven horses have been able to do so, the last being Affirmed in 1978. This makes the Crown ripe for the taking again, and many trainers and owners have been vying for it for the coming season.
The Kentucky Derby odds are created by bookmakers who look at each individual horse in terms of speed, strength, training, breeding, ownership, and much more. They attempt to evaluate a given horse’s chances of winning the race, and based on what they find, they compare it to the other horses running. After ratings have been assigned, bookmakers give each horse particular odds of winning, then post them for everyone to see and bet on. A shortened version of Kentucky Derby odds might look like this:
Gallant Fox: 13
Omaha: 9
War Admiral: 15
Whirlaway: 32
Based on this posting, Omaha is horse with the best odds of winning the race. A bet on Omaha would pay out nine dollars for every dollar bet in the event of a win. Whirlaway is the horse with the worst odds, and would pay out thirty-two dollars for every dollar bet on a win. Because there are typically twenty horses running in the Kentucky Derby, picking a winner can be difficult. That said, it isn’t always the one the bookmakers think: Donerail was a long shot winner of the Derby in 1913, with 92.4 to 1 odds, making a few people very, very rich. The Kentucky Derby odds are only part of what makes the race so exciting and fun, however. Anyone who loves horses or horse racing, or even the thrill of a race in general, will be sure to have a great time at the Kentucky Derby.
