The 153rd Kentucky Derby occurs on May 1st, 2027, to be held at Churchill Downs, Louisville. Punters in South Africa can place Kentucky Derby bets through licensed online sportsbooks and horse racing betting sites that offer international horse racing markets.
The licensed Kentucky Derby betting sites are part of the pari-mutuel pool, stream the race live and offer special promotions to their customers on Derby Day.
Go on reading to get the latest odds for the Kentucky Derby, the legality of online betting and the types of betting involved.
Best Kentucky Derby Betting Sites
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Claim Now
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100% Match
Up to R4000 |
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125% Match
Up to R3750 + 25 Free Spins |
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100% Match
Up to R1000 |
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100% Match
Up to R3500 |
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100% Match
Up to R3900 |
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Betting on the Kentucky Derby
Betting online is the most convenient option of the three, provided bettors stick with licensed operators.
The quality of the experience varies by facility; some OTBs will be hosting extravagant Kentucky Derby watch parties this year, while others will be the types of places where you go, place your bet, and get out as quickly as possible.
Where to Bet on the Kentucky Derby Online
Online betting is by far the most convenient method to bet on the Kentucky Derby. Licensed horse racing betting apps and mobile online racebooks operate in South Africa, and they provide safe, legal, parimutuel wagering with full track payouts.
In this page there is a list of our recommended Kentucky Derby betting sites. Readers can visit the following racebooks to sign up for an account, download the official betting app, or place wagers from any desktop computer.
How to Bet on the Kentucky Derby
The vast majority of wagers placed on major races such as the Kentucky Derby are simple enough that anyone can get started with a bit of guidance. Ultimately, the goal with every wager is to pick a horse that will finish either in first place or very close to first.
The following wagers are the most common types that most casual race fans can pick up and run with in no time.
The Basics
- Win: This is the most straightforward horse racing wager of them all. Bettors pick a horse and place a wager of 30 Rand or more. The bet wins if the selected horse wins the race outright. Any result other than a first-place finish results in a loss for the wager.
- Place: A place bet wins if the selection finishes in either 1st or 2nd place. This one gives bettors a little more leeway but comes at the cost of a lower total payout.
- Show: A show bet wins if the horse finishes anywhere in the top three. Bettors get even more leeway with this wager, but it pays even less than a place bet.
The Basic Exotics
- Exacta is a form of wagering in which the bettor chooses two horses to finish in 1st and 2nd positions respectively. Unlike the win wager, the bettor wins only if the two horses finish in the exact order he chose. As a result, the return for this type of wager tends to be large.
- Trifecta, the bettor selects three horses to finish in the first three positions. This wager is referred to as trifecta because all three of the horses must finish in the order chosen by the bettor. Trifecta pays even bigger return than the previously mentioned bets.
- Superfecta is one step further as it has an even larger return compared to trifectas. In superfecta, the bettor picks four horses to finish in the first four positions. It is very hard to win this type of bet but the payout is big.
Horse racing fans can read more about these wagers and others at our horse racing betting guide. There, fans can read about all the bets described above plus other options such as boxing and keying horses.
How the Odds Work
The payout odds on each horse are calculated based on current betting action. As money comes in before the race, the odds refresh in real-time (or as close as possible to real-time). The odds posted publicly are subject to change dramatically as more wagers come in but generally provide an accurate representation of which horses are favorites and long shots.
Tracks take all the money that comes in, collect a fee off the top and then distribute the remainder to the winners. Long-shot horses pay the most in this system because fewer people bet on long shots, so fewer people split the pool. Horses perceived as strong pay less because more people bet on the favorites, which results in more winners splitting the pool when that horse wins.
The actual process of calculating the odds is quite complex because there are so many different types and sizes of wagers that will need to be paid off at the end of the race. But generally speaking, it all comes down to how much action bettors put on each horse.
Kentucky Derby Futures
Kentucky Derby futures allow horse racing fans to place wagers well in advance of the race, even before the eventual runners have secured their places in the race.
Futures are usually the domain of traditional sports betting in which fans bet against the house. However, Churchill Downs offers parimutuel Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pools each year that allow fans to get their bets in on the winners very early.
Kentucky Derby futures are fraught with uncertainty being so far out from race day but offer payouts that are potentially much larger. Horse racing fans should be aware that futures are not refundable; once the bet is placed, there it remains even if the chosen horse withdraws.
Each year, Churchill Downs hosts four futures Kentucky Derby future pools. The first begins at the end of the previous year, while the next three occur in intervals over the run-up to race day.
Each Kentucky Derby future pool offers 24 individual selections: 23 for horses expected to race and one for “all others” that covers any other potential candidate that isn’t yet on the radar.
How the Road to the Kentucky Derby Works
Kentucky Derby prospects get exactly one chance in their lives to take a crack at the Kentucky Derby due to it being open to three-year-olds only. A total of twenty slots are available, so competition to even earn an appearance at the starting gate is fierce.
Most horses vie for one of the twenty slots through a series of 35 prep races called the Road to the Kentucky Derby, beginning in the fall of the year preceding the race. The top four finishers in each prep race earn points for their performances and move their way up the leaderboard that will ultimately determine who gets to run in the Kentucky Derby.
Churchill Downs also runs the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby and the European Road to the Kentucky Derby to invite one horse from each region.
The number of points up for grabs in each race varies as some races along the way are worth more than others. Early prep races, for example, may award 10 points for a first-place finish, 4 points for a second-place finish, 2 points for a third-place finish, and 1 point for a fourth-place finish.