Kentucky Derby Betting

Date Built: 1875
Capacity: 48,500
Track(s) One mile
Soil: Sandy loam, 75% sand, 23% silt, 2% clay
Width: 80 feet; backstretch, 79 feet
Turf Course: Track: 7/8th mile
Turf: 90% Fescue, 10% Bluegrass
Width: 80 feet

May of 1875, the legendary racetrack Churchill Downs was born and became home to the Kentucky Derby – the longest continuously running sporting event in America.

In 1883 the track was officially named "Churchill Downs," another 20 years before Twin Spires topped a new grandstand, 28 years before the racetrack became profitable, and 50 years before the Derby earned its "Run for the Roses" moniker.

Matt Winn, who led a syndicate that took the reins of the struggling facility in 1902 and eventually brought the racetrack and its signature race to a level of international acclaim virtually unmatched by a U.S. sporting event. Winn was an innovator, promoter and champion of the sport who is credited with making the Kentucky Derby what it is today in terms of action, entertianment and horse racing betting.

During Winn's tenure, Churchill Downs racetrack hosted state fairs at the facility, locomotive collisions in the infield, and auto races on the racetrack. Even the first recorded flight in Kentucky is tied to Churchill Downs, when pilot Glenn Curtiss, founder of Curtiss-Wright Aviation, shipped a plane in by train, assembled it at the track and took off from the infield.

Churchill Downs racetrack was organized as a Kentucky corporation in 1928 and officially became known as Churchill Downs Incorporated ("CDI") in 1942.

The Kentucky Derby was first run at 1.5 miles (2.4 km). In 1896, the distance was changed to its current 1.25 miles (2 km). On May 17, 1875, in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 people, a field of 15 three-year-old horses contested the first Kentucky Derby.

Under African-American jockey Oliver Lewis, a colt named Aristides, who was trained by future Hall of Famer, Ansel Williamson, won the inaugural Derby.

On May 11, 1892, jockey Alonzo "Lonnie" Clayton, age 15, became the youngest rider to win the Derby. The 1904 race was won by Elwood, the first Derby starter and winner owned by a woman, Laska Durnell. In 1915, Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby, and in 1917, the English bred colt "Omar Khayyam" became the first foreign-bred horse to win the race.

In 1908 pari-mutual betting was introduced at the Kentucky Derby. This would change the sport forever as states adopted this "legalized" form of betting in exchange for a percentage of the profits.

On May 3, 1952, the first national television coverage of the Kentucky Derby took place. In 1954, the purse exceeded $100,000 for the first time.

The 2004 Kentucky Derby marked the first time that jockeys, as a result of a court order, were allowed to wear corporate advertising logos on their clothing.

In 2005, the purse distribution for the Kentucky Derby was changed, so that horses finishing fifth would henceforth receive a share of the purse; previously only the first four finishers did so.

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The one thing that us BetUS online racebook fans need to remember from the Kentucky Derby isn’t Big Brown looking like a stud while squashing the competition or the fact that Big Brown won from the 20th post.

It’s the fact that Big Brown keyed a huge, massive, trifecta. The trifecta on the Kentucky Derby yielded massive online betting profits for those brave enough to put Eight Belles and Denis of Cork with Big Brown. A $2 online trifecta bet on the Derby produced a pay-out over $3,400.

The superfecta, with Tale of Ekati finishing fourth, paid well over $58,000 for $2. The fact that Big Brown won as the favorite, and the payouts were so enormous, shows us that the key to winning on these huge sports betting races is understanding the exacta, trifecta, and superfecta pools. In other words, value isn’t always found on top. Sometimes it’s found on the bottom - - in the second and third place finishers. That was definitely the case with Eight Belles, who went off 11 to 1 to win the Derby, and Denis of Cork who went off at 26 to 1 odds to win the Derby.

The reason we need to pay attention to these numbers is because it shows us that even though a favorite wins the race, large pools and full fields invariably provide massive pay-outs.