Photo credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Despite the somewhat slow roll out of legal sports betting sites across the country, sports fans in most states can bet on the Kentucky Derby online. Here’s how to bet on the big race.
Legal Kentucky Derby betting is available in 31 states, including Pennsylvania, New York, Florida and Illinois. Multiple race books are permitted to accept wagers online. The betting sites available for the Kentucky Derby differ from traditional sportsbooks and are available to more users in more states.
The best place to bet the Kentucky Derby online is TVG, which is the sister site of FanDuel Sportsbook. TwinSpires, the official betting site of Churchill Downs, is a strong second option.
TVG is the best all-around betting app for the Kentucky Derby. Owned by the same company that owns FanDuel, TVG offers a premium, safe and secure betting experience. Best of all, it’s legal and regulated.
New users who sign up for TVG here can get a $300 risk-free bet on the Derby.
The official betting site of the Kentucky Derby, owned by Churchill Downs, TwinSpires is not quite as polished as TVG, but you know you are getting the most up-to-date and widest selection of betting options given the site’s tie-in with the race itself. It’s as good as betting in person, which, this year, you can’t do anyway.
Signing up to wager on the Kentucky Derby is easy.
You can do it in three simple steps:
From there, you can choose your race, select your horses and your bet type, and lock in your wager on the Kentucky Derby.
Thanks to a differing set of legislation for race books, the ability to wager legally online on horse races is much more widespread than traditional sports betting, which is regulated in only a handful of states.
Here are all of the states where betting on the Kentucky Derby online is available:
Both of our recommended choices here – TVG and TwinSpires – are available in all of these states.
Placing a bet on the Kentucky Derby is easy. Horse are listed in order of their odds to win the race.
The first number listed is the amount that is paid out on a stake in the amount of the second number.
For example: Tiz The Law, the favorite, is listed at 3-5 odds, meaning you would have to bet $5 to win $3– not a great payout since he’s the favorite.
Most other horses will be listed with something like 18-1, meaning a $1 bet would payout $18 if that horse wins.
The great thing about horse racing is that you can place a lot more than just a single bet on a horse to win. You can choose the top three horses, the order of finish, and so on.
Names to know:
Here are the various types of bets for the Kentucky Derby:
| Horse | Odds |
|---|---|
| Known Agenda | 6-1 |
| Like the King | 50-1 |
| Brooklyn Strong | 50-1 |
| Keepmeinmind | 50-1 |
| Sainthood | 50-1 |
| O Besos | 20-1 |
| Mandaloun | 15-1 |
| Medina Spirit | 15-1 |
| Hot Rod Charlie | 8-1 |
| Midnight Bourbon | 20-1 |
| Dynamic One | 20-1 |
| Helium | 50-1 |
| Hidden Stash | 50-1 |
| Essential Quality | 2-1 |
| Rock Your World | 5-1 |
| King Fury | 20-1 |
| Highly Motivated | 10-1 |
| Super Stock | 30-1 |
| Soup and Sandwich | 30-1 |
| Bourbonic | 30-1 |
Date: September 5, 2020
State time: 7:01 PM EST (coverage begins at 2:30 PM EST)
Network: NBC, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app
Sportsbook partner: Thanks to a partnership with NBC Sports, PointsBet will be heavily featured on the NBC broadcast despite not being able to accept wagers on the Kentucky Derby.