Keeneland Select Derby – not just a one-race wonder
The Keeneland Select Derby is not an individual race, as its name might suggest. It’s actually an annual two-day event held at the Keeneland racetrack in early May to celebrate the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby. Live access to these elite horse racing events in the US flat racing calendar is available thanks to Keeneland’s close association with TwinSpires.
Day 1: The Kentucky Oaks
Colloquially entitled ‘Lillies for the Fillies’ this race is for three year old female horses only and run over a distance of 1⅛ miles on the left-handed Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is limited to 20 runners who compete for a purse of $1.25 million.
Day 2: The Kentucky Derby
The first of the three US Triple Crown events, the ‘Run for the Roses’ is a flat race for three year old thoroughbred horses of both sexes, with fillies given a 5lb weight allowance. It is also run on the left-handed dirt track at Churchill Downs, but over a distance of 1¼ miles and with a prize purse worth a staggering $3 million.
A brief guide to Keeneland Select Derby betting – being selective is the key
You will find that pari-mutuel betting works slightly differently to placing a fixed-odds bet on the average sportsbook platform. One of the main differences is that you won’t know what your payout will be until the pool closes shortly before the start of the race.
You will most likely find that the biggest pools are in the win market, as that is how the majority of bettors tend to wager on horse racing. It also means that the number of correct selections are higher, which in turn reduces your payout.
That’s why our betting tips for the Keeneland Select Derby will include alternative types of bet where the numbers are considerably reduced and the potential profit available from the pool will be higher per person. We will go through some of the more exotic pari-mutuel bets later in this article.
Why trust our betting tips? – curated by expert horse racing fans
Here at Horsebetting.com our tips are world class and that’s all down to the experts who spend their time compiling them for you. Let’s start by telling you that our horse racing team are all avid fans of horse racing and active bettors themselves, so when they curate tips you can be assured that they will also be using them.
When it comes to the Keeneland Select Derby they will be looking in great detail at the two top races that are broadcast at the Keeneland racetrack. However, the tips you’ll get are the result of months of watching and following the most likely equine contenders and reviewing their performance in the races leading up to the two big events.
Our experts use their own research and observations in combination with official racing statistics, such as you’d find on a form card. The end result for you is exclusive betting tips presented to you in an easy to read format.
Our key to success – how we analyze the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby
When you see our betting tips for these two classic races, they are the result of months of research and analysis, not just something we dreamed up the night before or copied from another horse racing tipster.
Because our experts are such huge horse racing fans themselves, they have a real feel for the sport. In addition, the data they analyze will go above and beyond any that you can glean from a form card or a horse racing statistics website alone.
They will also make use of factors related directly to their personal observations of horses and jockeys before making their final assessments and creating your betting tips.
Our favorite operators for betting on the horses
Things to consider before placing a Keeneland Select Derby bet – take advantage of exotic bets
With races like the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby, you are wagering on the best of the best in terms of three year old racehorses. Odds will be short and betting to win will have very limited profit potential, so you need to implement some sort of strategy.
If you are wagering through Keeneland’s own betting platform, you will naturally be confined to the odds and bet types on offer there, as all online horse race betting sites (except for other pari-mutuel betting sites) are illegal in Kentucky. That said, when we compared odds at Keeneland with other top US online betting sites, we found them to be highly competitive.
Each of the bet types available for the Keeneland Select Derby events will have a minimum stake amount and include:
- Win or Straight bet – a single bet on one horse to win
- Place – select first and second any order
- Show – horse to be placed first second or third
- Exacta – first two horses in correct order
- Trifecta – first three horses in correct order
- Superfecta – first four horses in correct order
- Double – select the winner of two different races
Those are the basic betting categories which Keeneland Select has available for all racing events, but you are likely to find an additional selection, plus some interesting side bets on offer specifically for the Keeneland Select Derby event, so watch out for those.
Top 5 reasons for betting with Keeneland Select – no reason to go elsewhere
Useful Keeneland Select Derby betting tip vocabulary – some racing terminology explained
There’s a lot to learn when it comes to horse racing, learning to read form and wagering. If you are a beginner to this sport, you are likely to find certain racing terminology in our horse racing betting tips a little confusing.
Below are some of the most common recurring words or phrases that you are likely to come across:
- Filly – a female horse under the age of four years
- Colt – an uncastrated male horse under the age of four
- Gelding – a castrated male horse any age
- Weight – the specified amount of weight the horse must carry in a race, which includes jockey, saddle and any supplementary lead weights needed
- Distance – the length of the race in miles and/or furlongs (eight furlongs = 1 mile)
- Surface – whether the race is run on turf or dirt (sand)
- Right-handed/left-handed – the direction of the race, clockwise or anti-clockwise
- Going – the condition of the track surface e.g. good, heavy etc.
- Purse – the total amount of prize money for a race
- Blinkers – eye coverings that prevent the horse looking to the side
- Colors or silks – the color of the jacket and cap worn by the jockey
- Nose, head, length – measures of distance between the winner and/or placed horses
- Outsider – a horse that is not expected to win
- Takeout – the commission deducted from the betting pool before bets are settled
Conclusion – good news all round
The Keeneland Select Derby event gives you the best of both worlds. Watching and wagering on two of the biggest annual racing events in the US and enjoying two fantastic family days out at a very nominal cost.
Keeneland’s pari-mutuel style of wagering allows you to bet on these two classic US horse races legally, either at the racetrack or online via its own betting site in many different states. Make sure you read our exclusive Horsebetting.com horse racing betting tips for this unique event and you’ll have even more chances to make a profit from your wagers.
