Last year, the storyline was Justify’s quest for glory. It all started at Churchill Downs with a win in the 144th Kentucky Derby and culminated with being named the 13th winner of the coveted Triple Crown, after capturing the Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 2018. This weekend, we get ready for the 145th running of the world-famous horse race. Check out our betting guide for odds, information and analysis on the race.

Mark Milligan previews the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Saturday evening and picks out his best bet. This year’s ‘Run for the Roses’ appears to be as open a renewal as we’ve seen in recent times, and the waters were further muddied when ante-post favourite Omaha Beach became an eleventh-hour non-runner after suffering a trapped. 2020 Kentucky Derby Betting Tips, Best Bookmakers & Free Bets The Kentucky Derby is the holy grail of horse racing in America and it's considered 'the most exciting two minutes in sport'. Run over 2012m at Churchill Downs every May, the best three-year-olds take to the dirt track in Kentucky for a chance to etch their name alongside the many.

The Favorites

Three legendary trainers will look to capture their first-ever Derby title this weekend. Richard Mandella, Bill Mott and Steve Asmussen have won a combined 15,451 races in their illustrious careers, but none of them has ever won the “Run for the Roses.” Mandella looked to have the best chance of the three to end the unfortunate streak, as his horse Omaha Beach entered the week with the best overall odds at 4-1. With that being said, Omaha Beach has officially been scratched from the race. That opens the door for yet another potential Bob Baffert win in 2019.

Omaha Beach was followed by Baffert’s three entries; Game Winner (9-2), Roadster (5-1) and Improbable (5-1). Of course, Baffert is considered to be a legend in the horse racing game. He has already trained two Triple Crown-winning horses and has won five Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes and three Kentucky Oaks. His two big winners were American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018. American Pharoah became the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown and first to do it since 1978, ending a drought of 37 years. He also became the first horse ever to win the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing, which includes the three most prestigious races, as well as the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

One of the betting favorites to potentially avoid is Roadster.Despite winning in the Santa Anita Derby against fellow Baffert-trained horse Game Winner, Roadster ran a combined 38feet less than Game Winner and barely pulled off the victory by a half-length.Game Winner was even wide on both turns, which should have provided moredistance between the top-2 finishers. In addition, Roadster drew the No. 17post for Saturday’s race, which could mean even wider turns than at SantaAnita. That could spell trouble for anyone willing to bet on the 5-1 odds thatare attached to Roadster.

Betting Info

Obviously, all the buzz around this event has a lot to do with the betting implications that this prestigious race holds. So, here are some helpful stats and facts from the previous 144 runnings of the Kentucky Derby that might help you decide which horse you want to place your money on.

Notonly has the post-time favorite won each of the last six years, but each ofthem entered the race with single-digit odds. In fact, ten of the past 19 and eightof the past 12 Derby winners entered the race as the post-time favorite.

Despite50 percent of the winners since 2000 having single digit odds entering therace, the average price of the winner during that time has been nearly 12-1.That means that if one of the favorites does not win, it could be a truelongshot crossing the finish line first. Do you have the courage to wager on anunderdog?

MaximumSecurity (10-1) won the Florida Derby a month ago. Three of the last sixKentucky Derby winners also won the Florida Derby in the same year. In fact, 15Kentucky Derby winners overall have also accomplished that feat. Maximum Securitywill start from the seventh post.

Interms of jockey success, the most prominent name that comes to mind is Mike Smith, who took home the crown lastyear riding Justify. Unfortunately, he was set to ride Omaha Beach, who was thebetting favorite but was recently scratched from the race. Instead, keep an eyeout for John Velasquez, who won the 2017 Derby on top of Always Dreaming.

Nopost position has produced more winners at the Kentucky Derby than No. 5 with10 over the 144-year history of the race. Baffert’s Improbable will start from post5 and will be ridden by 2018 jockey earnings leader Irad Ortiz Jr. At 6-1 odds, Improbable is one of the favorites.With that being said, he has finished second in consecutive races on wet tracksdue to his pacing mentality not allowing him to make up enough ground at theend.

Key Betting Terms/Options

Ofcourse, the traditional and easiest way to bet on a horse race is to win, placeor show. If you bet on the horse to win, they must finish in first place. Ifyou bet on him to place, he must finish either first or second. And finally, ifyou choose to bet on a horse to show, that horse must finish in first, secondor third place for you to cash in.

Fromthere, the betting options get a little more complex but a lot more fun.

Exacta: Betting on two horses to finish1-2, in that order. In 2014, a $2 Exacta bet on California Chrome andCommanding Curve would have paid $340.

Trifecta: As you can probably tell fromthe name, this option means to bet on three horses to finish 1-2-3, in thatorder. A Trifecta bet on Danza finishing third behind the two above-mentionedhorses in 2014 would have cashed a $2 bet at $3,424.60.

Superfecta: I’m sure you are beginning tosense a trend, but if not, a Superfecta bet is when you place a wager on four horsesto finish 1-2-3-4, in that order. Again, adding Wicked Strong as thefourth-place finisher in 2014 would have seen your $2 bet earn you a staggering$15,383.80.

Quinella: Finally, a Quinella bet ispicking two horses to finish 1-2, in any order. This gives you a much betterchance to win but offers less enticing odds that the above options.

BoxedWagers: Similarto the Quinella, this option provides more opportunity to win but with lessintriguing and profitable returns. Boxing your Trifecta or Superfecta betssimply means that the horses you choose can finish in any order, as long asthey finish in the top-3 (Trifecta) or top-4 (Superfecta). Essentially, aQuinella is a boxed Exacta bet.

The Kentucky Derby is always one of the toughest races to bet on every year, and this year it shapes up to be tougher than usual - potentially much tougher. There is no clear standout, and many runners in the field are legitimately in the mix. Just thinking about it gives me a headache, and there are still five days to go before the race. Narrowing it down to the best bets is going to be very tough, but to help you in that pursuit here are three free Kentucky Derby tips:

Baffert will be a factor: There are people out there who hate Bob Baffert. I can't figure that out. Then there are those, like me, who think he's the best trainer on the planet. No matter which camp you belong in, though, there is just no way you can disregard his collection of runners in this race.

He has three horses entered, and all of them could very easily win this race. They are installed as the second and co-third favorites on the morning line. And though horses typically get a Baffert boost in the odds, that is right where they belong. Game Winner and Roadster weren't done any favors being placed in the auxiliary starting gate, but neither one needs to be near the lead early, so they aren't going to be in too much trouble because of that. And Improbable, in the six hole, is in good position to push for the lead if he chooses to or to settle in if patience seems to be in order. All three of these horses have viable paths to a win, the breeding to handle the distance, and riders good enough to get through the chaos successfully. If, at the very least, Baffert doesn't wind up somewhere in the Top 3 this year, that would qualify as a major upset.

Go deep: By this point most years I have narrowed my list of top contenders and most likely winners down to just two or three horses. At this point last year, the list was at one. Right now, I am at five - the three Baffert horses, Omaha Beach and Tacitus . And I feel like War of Will should probably be included as well, though I don't love his inside draw. And horses like Maximum Security, Vekoma, and Tax deserve plenty of respect. And I'm not ruling out colts like Win Win Win, Haikal, or By My Standards. The first Kentucky Derby I attended in person was in 1996 when Grindstone won. The long shot in that 19-horse field was only 29/1, and you couldn't easily toss out more than a small handful of the runners. This field is almost as deep. Runners like Master Fencer and Gray Magician are pretty easy to toss here, but you still need to be dealing with a whole lot of runners here. This is probably not the kind of year where you let it ride on one horse, and if you are going to bet exotics you will really need to go deep.

Kentucky Derby 2019 Betting Tips 1x2

Assume nothing when it comes to the pace: The pace scenario in this race is very muddy , and nothing about the draw cleared things up much. Maximum Security is the only horse that seems to need the lead, and running out of the seven hole he should be positioned to get up if he breaks well. War of Will drew the rail unfortunately, but Mark Casse has repeatedly said the colt will be going to the lead, and if he breaks well, he can probably get it done from there.

Churchill Downs

One of those two is likely to lead. But if one of the two can't get there, then we might not have a duel that can speed things up. And if only one of the two gets to the lead, then anything can happen. Maximum Security got the lead in the Florida Derby and was relatively unchallenged, so he happily settled in at an almost glacial pace, so he isn't necessarily going to look to run away with things.

Kentucky Derby 2019 Betting Tips Horse Racing

And beyond that there are several unknowns. Omaha Beach and Improbable, in particular, are colts that could potentially challenge for the early lead if things set up well for them, and both are in positions where their jockeys can pounce if an opportunity is there for them. Tax is another horse, sitting in the No. 2 spot, who likes to be near the lead and could determine that leading is his best shot if things look good for him. Add it all up, and it is very tough to know what will happen in the first half mile of this race. We could see a 44- or 45-second pace, or we could see something notably slower than that. Without certainty about the pace, we can't confidently judge how the closers will fare or what the race will look like for those mid-pack.

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