The Kentucky Derby, otherwise known as the “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”, is like the Super Bowl for horse racing fans. As the first leg of the American Triple Crown, the Derby has a distinction of being the only one of the major races to never be interrupted since its inception. As a highly popular sporting event, finding the right Kentucky Derby betting site is imperative.
The 2025 Kentucky Derby is coming up Saturday, May 3 at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky. The race covers 1 1/4 miles and is open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds. Throughout this guide, we’ll explain how to bet on the Kentucky Derby online and where to find the best odds to suit your needs. It is time for Kentucky Derby 2025 betting, and this is how to get into the game!
For betting the Kentucky Derby online, you first need an online betting account. We have picked the best horse racing betting sites for US, Canada, and Global bettors. All of these sites offer market-leading odds, trusted payouts, great betting experiences, and promo codes that can help you build your bankroll even faster.
Kentucky Derby specific betting guides and videos
Fun prop bets
Strong variety of prop bets
Customer support could be improved
The Bovada racebook covers Kentucky Derby odds very well. They also have props and futures for other races in the Kentucky Derby Festival.
You can use the Bovada sportsbook welcome bonus at the racebook as well. At 5x, the rollover requirement is among the lowest in the industry.
Bovada is a top Kentucky Derby betting site because it is so nice to navigate their extensive sportsbook. They also provide a Kentucky Derby betting guide and many other helpful articles.
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Earn extra cryptocurrency bonus
7% horse racing rebate
Kentucky Derby props and futures
No live streaming
At the BetOnline racebook, you can bet on matchups, futures, and props for the Kentucky Derby and other major races during the Festival.
Thanks to their horse race rebate special, you get 7% back from your Kentucky Derby bets even if you do not win.
You are in good hands at BetOnline! With nice bet options and specials to alleviate the risk, you can have lots of fun at this Kentucky Derby betting site.
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Top-notch sign-up bonuses up to $2,000
Reload bonuses are higher than average
Full Kentucky Derby futures betting market
Could use a few more payment options
BetUS offers a full range of sports and horse racing betting including futures wagering on the Kentucky Derby and other major horse races.
Both first-time players and players reloading their account can build their bankroll with market-leading bonuses.
Watch for racebook promotions for major races like the Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup, including money back specials, free bets, and cash reload bonuses exclusive to BetUS racebook players.
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Earn up to 8% rebates on horse racing betting, paid out daily
Bet futures and prop bets on major jorse races
Make deposits with any of over 70 cryptocurrencies
Payouts can take longer than average for methods other than crypto
BookMaker pays rebates daily, of 8% on exotic bets placed online and 3% on win-place-show wagers made online.
In addition to rebates, you can also boost your bankroll with sign-up bonuses at BookMaker, with the best options available for crypto.
A favorite of high-rollers for decades, BookMaker offers some of the best horse racing rebates, especially for players who favor exotic bets on the Kentucky Derby.
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Horse racing rebates up to 9% help you build bankroll
Reload bonuses are generous, and available on every deposit
Bet some of the biggest and most varied sports markets
No live streaming of racing or sports
Sportsbetting.ag offers a massive 9% rebate on exotic wagers at major U.S. tracks including Churchill Downs, and 4% on win-place-show at major tracks.
Alongside the horse racing rebates, make sure to take advantage of deposit and reload bonuses, including a huge 100% deposit bonus and 35% reload bonus if you use crypto.
With great incentives and many markets to choose from, you’ll have fun betting the Kentucky Derby, as well as racing and sports all year long, at Sportsbetting.ag.
Read Sportsbetting ReviewA 7% horse racing rebate helps you build bankroll, win or lose
Low rollover on bonuses, especially crypto reload
Sleek, modern interface is optimized for mobile betting
Minimum deposit is higher than many sportsbooks
XBet offers a full Kentucky Derby futures betting market, alongside a wide range of other sports betting markets at your fingertips.
Generous deposit bonuses, low-rollover crypto reload bonuses, and ongoing horse racing rebates help you build your Kentucky Derby betting bankroll.
With great bonuses and rebates, futures markets, and an easy-to-navigate racebook interface, XBet makes it easy to bet the Kentucky Derby and horse racing all year long.
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Top-3 and Triple Crown futures in addition to Kentucky Derby
Many creative promotions for players
Full spectrum of bonuses with different rollovers
No live streaming
Most racebooks only offer win betting or props like head-to-head, but Everygame also offers a unique antepost top-3 wager on the Kentucky Derby, as well as a well-developed market of Triple Crown futures.
Everygame offers a wide range of bonuses with varying rollovers, as well as a broad assortment of promotions, to keep you having fun and making money on Kentucky Derby day and beyond.
With uncommon Kentucky Derby betting options and a broad range of promotions, there’s always something new to bet at Everygame.
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10% rebate on net lossses is automatic, no sign-up necessary
100% bonus up to $1,000 in the racebook
Fast, responsive customer service
Kentucky Derby futures market does not go up as early as other sites
BetNow focuses on industry-leading rebates, and its 10% horse racing rebate is one of the best you will find.
The BetNow blog has helpful information about betting horse racing, so you can learn about horse racing wagering before you place your Kentucky Derby bets.
With excellent rebates, bonuses, and bettor information, you will feel right at home betting horse racing at BetNow.
Read BetNow ReviewWe recommend these sportsbooks because they performed the best on our betting experts’ rigorous reviews of sportsbooks. During our testing, we investigate all the real-life factors that make a sportsbook both fun and safe to use. The factors we consider include:
By evaluating these comprehensive factors, we get the complete picture of what it’s like to play at each racebook on a regular basis, and can thus recommend the best ones.
Signing up at the listed Kentucky Derby racebooks is easy. Once you have chosen the perfect racebook for betting on the 2025 Kentucky Derby, make sure to note any promo codes in our review for the site and then click the “Play Now” button on our site for that racebook.
Once you are on the racebook site, click the join link and fill out the form, including choosing your bonus or entering your promo code. Then, you’ll be ready to fund your account and bet on the 2025 Kentucky Derby online!
Every online racebook offers a different set of promotions for the 2025 Kentucky Derby, as well as for horse races all year long. They can help boost your bankroll by paying you in cash or free bets just for playing. However, there is always some fine print, and there are some positives and negatives for each kind of bonus you try to claim through a racebook or sportsbook.
Taking a few minutes to learn about the types of bonuses and promotions for the 2025 Kentucky Derby, as well as the pros and cons of each, will help you become a smarter online bettor and choose the structures that will make you the most money.
These are the kinds of bonuses you can expect to find during Kentucky Derby season and beyond”
| Bonus Type | Pros | Cons |
| Sign-up Bonus | These are usually the most generous bonuses offered by online racebooks. | You can only claim a sign-up bonus once, right when you make your account and fund it. |
| Deposit Bonus | You can cash deposit bonuses over and over, not just the first time you fund your online betting account. | Deposit bonuses are usually not as generous as sign-up bonuses. |
| Horse Racing Rebates | Horse racing rebates don’t require new deposits, and they pay you every day or every week just for betting on the races. | Make sure to read the fine print, because rebates vary significantly. Different racebooks have different rebate rates, different applications (all bets versus losing bets or aggregate losses), and different lists of tracks on which rebates can be claimed. Rebate rates can often vary by bet, and are usually better for exotic bets than straight win-place-show. |
| Referral Bonuses | Referral bonuses do not require you to make a betting deposit, only to invite your friends to start betting online at the same racebook you use. And, some sites offer unlimited referral bonues. | You have to know people who are into betting, and convince them to play online with you. Also, depending on the site’s structure, there may be limits to how many people you can refer. |
| Cryptocurrency Bonuses | These are typically more generous than sign-up or deposit bonuses using credit cards or other kinds of money transfer, because many racebooks are trying to encourage their users to start funding and betting with cryptocurrency. | Cryptocurrency bonuses require you to learn how to use crypto, establish a crypto wallet, and find out how to make payments to the betting site’s crypto wallet. |
In terms of where to bet on the Kentucky Derby, both casual fans and sharps will have plenty of opportunities to cash out with its plethora of Kentucky Derby betting lines and payouts across the top sites.
A win bet is the most straightforward bet and is often the one that is opened the first. Choose which horse will win the Kentucky Derby, straight-up. Depending how books present this, it can be a choice between all the horses or a group of favorites versus the field.
These are the 2025 Kentucky Derby win bet odds for horses at the top of the market at the top-recommended online sportsbooks. These include Bovada Kentucky Derby odds, as well as those for BetOnline and MyBookie.
Remember that playing at an online racebook is better than playing from the pari-mutuel pools at the track because you can lock in your odds before the race online for major races like the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes! They work like a Kentucky Derby future wager, with fixed odds.
Since odds on track move all the way to post time, betting the Kentucky Derby at a trusted horse racing betting site lets you lock in your price as soon as you see an overlay.
Next to picking the outright winner, you can pick if a horse will make it to the podium, a top-three finish. For most American races you have two options: a place bet for a horse finishing second or better, or a show bet for a horse finishing third or better.
This is often a good supplementary bet for the outright winner or a lower risk type of bet. It can also be a good idea to do a place or show parlay, especially if you have strong opinions on horses who can run well in races before or after the Kentucky Derby on the card.
The odds will be a bit easier on this than a win bet, though, since there are more chances for a horse to be successful.
The Kentucky Derby is like the Super Bowl of horse racing. You’ll notice the countless props released by oddsmakers closer to the event. These are more specified types of bets that outline certain conditions for a horse or jockey to achieve. Think of it as “bonus points”. Here are some examples of horse props you might see:
The horses may be the stars of the attraction, but their jockeys sometimes get equal shine. You can find plenty of props focused on the jockeys and trainers as well:
There are also event props perfect for bettors who aren’t invested in any specific horse. These props deal with general stats, situations, and prospects for the event. Some event props available might be:
Betting strategies for the Kentucky Derby vary depending on your goals and what you’re good at. There are two main factors to consider when betting: 1) the level of your confidence on a bet; and 2) the value of a bet.
Both have to align to constitute a “sound” bet. Your level of confidence might be high that a specific horse will win, but if the odds are too steep and the return is pitiful, it may not be worth investing. This is a low risk, low reward scenario.
Conversely, you may not be confident on a bet like a prop, but the rewards are high. This is a high risk, high reward scenario.
By reading the odds and doing a bit more research, you may find gaps in the betting lines that you may exploit.
Kentucky Derby odds are available much of the year. Once the early Kentucky Derby preps begin, around September, you may start to see racebooks and sportsbooks taking action. Of course, take this with a grain of salt as these are very early odds and have a high chance of changing or being taken down depending on news events.
The Derby’s odds are usually affected by the races that take place before it such as the previous year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and the Road to the Kentucky Derby races in New York, Arkansas, and Keeneland among other places. The horse’s performance during these races serves as a barometer for the upcoming Kentucky Derby.
The Kentucky Derby is scheduled for Saturday, May 3, 2025. It is usually run on the first Saturday in May, though there are occasional exceptions, like the 2020 event being rescheduled to September due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The calendar for the Kentucky Derby, including the Kentucky Derby Festival is usually released about a year before the event. Tickets go on sale as soon as the event is released.
The 2025 Kentucky Oaks will be run Friday, May 2, 2025.
Knowing the top contenders in the Kentucky Derby and their past performances is the foundation of good handicapping. These are expert picks for the most important horses to track as the race gets closer.
The undisputed leader of the 2025 Kentucky Derby betting market is Journalism. He burst onto the scene with a victory in the Los Alamitos Derby (G2) late last year, and just kept winning strong West Coast preps against strong competition. And, even though there were only five horses in the Santa Anita Derby (G1), he overcame a difficult trip and was able to reel in the impeccably bred Baeza. This leaves him a heavy favorite going into the Run for the Roses.
Horses who run well in final prep races often carry that form into the Kentucky Derby, so look to improving horses who ran well in their last race before the Derby.
Blue Grass (G1) winner Burnham Square rallied from well off the pace to win that final prep. Even though he only got up by a nose, he caught East Avenue, a horse who not only had it his own way on the lead but who may well be a Keeneland horse-for-the-course. With quite a bit of early speed likely in the Kentucky Derby, he should get more to run at this time around.
Sandman is another who should enjoy having pace to chase. He is impeccably bred for the step up in trip, and he reliably musters up a late run. He has a little bit of growing up to do, as can be common with younger Tapit progeny, but he rallied to a clear win in the Arkansas Derby and another step forward makes him a serious Kentucky Derby contender.
The Kentucky Derby could be a good place for closers, and that’s great news for longshot Chunk of Gold. He has yet to win a prep, but he rallied for second in each of his three stakes starts so far, including the last two prep races on the Fair Grounds spur of the Kentucky Derby trail. His under-the-radar connections ensure he won’t be heavily bet, but he could fill out the exotics if the pace stays in.
Publisher hasn’t won a Kentucky Derby prep – in fact, he hasn’t won a race at all. But, he rallied for fourth in the Rebel (G2) despite some trouble and then finished second behind the more experienced Sandman in the Arkansas Derby (G1). He has been improving with every start, his Arkansas Derby was fast enough to fit nicely in with this Kentucky Derby field, and any step forward from that makes this maiden son of American Pharoah fascinating at a huge price.
The 2025 Kentucky Derby will be run on Saturday, May 3.
The Kentucky Derby will be run at historic Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky.
Yes! The NBC family of networks will air the Kentucky Derby via both NBC and their Peacock streaming service.
Mystik Dan won a thrilling edition of the Kentucky Derby in 2024. He won it by only a nose over Sierra Leone, and Japan-based star Forever Young was just one more nose behind in third!
Up to 20 horses can run in the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby also allows up to four horses to enter as also eligible if any horse in the main field has to scratch before local betting begins at 9:00 am EDT Friday.
Many years over 150,000 people attend the Kentucky Derby. The record attendance was 170,513 fans who saw American Pharaoh win in 2015. However, with COVID-19 regulations, only 20,000 to 30,000 people are expected to attend in 2021.
The winner of the Kentucky Derby gets $3 million from a total purse of $5 million.
The Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes follow the Kentucky Derby. In 2025 the Preakness is scheduled for Saturday, May 17, and the Belmont is scheduled for Saturday, June 7.
The Kentucky Derby is one and one quarter miles (10 furlongs, 2012 meters) in length.
After dominating the west-coast spur of the Kentucky Derby trail, Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Journalism is the hot favorite to win the 2025 Kentucky Derby in all major markets.
You can use any internet-connected device such as a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or smartphone to watch and bet the Kentucky Derby easily.
Depending on what your sportsbook offers, you can then either place your bets through the sportsbook’s website or download an application with instant betting access.
Yes! You can use the internet connection on your mobile phone to access any sportsbook website and play the races. Many sportsbooks also let you download an app that gives you a smooth, convenient betting experience designed for mobile-first.
With so many sportsbooks available, it can be a difficult decision to find the sportsbook that suits your betting needs. We can help. Our experts have reviewed the best online sportsbooks, and their trusted reviews can help you find the sportsbook that fits your betting needs and goals best.
Sportsbooks offer many promotions to players including rebates, welcome bonuses, free bets, and other promo codes. The vast majority of betting sites offer horse racing rebates through their racebooks. Though the rebate percentage varies by site, they often range from 7-15% of the amount you bet, whether you win or lose, paid out every day.
Not all sportsbooks offer live streaming of the Kentucky Derby yet, though it is something bettors are requesting. The race will stream live on Peacock, so even if the best sportsbook for you has not arranged for streaming, you can still watch the race while you bet.
Sportsbooks offer a full range of Kentucky Derby bets including simple win wagers, exotic wagers, and prop bets. More than anything, it is important to choose a bet that you feel confident about and that balances risk and reward in a way that makes sense for you.
Common horse racing wagers include the following:
Win bet
Place bet
Show bet
Exacta
Trifecta
Superfecta
Double
Pick 3
Pick 4
Different sportsbooks offer different odds for the Kentucky Derby, based on how bettors are playing the horses in their sportsbook and other important betting markets.
This is why it is important to read betting guides and expert analysis of the Kentucky Derby horses and compare the odds on multiple sportsbooks. This can help you find the best odds.
You don’t have to wait until Derby Day! Through online sportsbooks, you can bet on the Kentucky Derby months in advance! This is called Kentucky Derby futures wagering. What makes future wagering more exciting than pari-mutuel betting at the track is that you can lock in your price, and often you can get many times the price you get on race day if you bet a good horse online in the futures markets.
Enjoy all of the Kentucky Derby props
The Kentucky Derby is the Super Bowl of horse racing betting. You will find countless props and even more when you sign-up to more than one sportsbook. This is great for serious bettors looking for the best odds, as well as casual players looking to throw darts at some lucrative prop bets. You never know when you’ll get lucky.
Anything can happen, don’t underestimate the underdogs
It doesn’t happen that often, but longshots do emerge victorious from the Kentucky Derby. While we can’t advise to keep betting on underdogs recklessly, we also encourage you to go with your gut if you feel an underdog has a better chance to win than odds indicate.
Use multiple sportsbooks to find the best odds
It’s tough to find the best Kentucky Derby betting sites for you. Our advice is to peruse the different sportsbooks and compare. They have their strengths and weaknesses, but they all offer signup bonuses or perks of some sort. Divide your bankroll into two or three books that offer various benefits.
About the Author
Trent’s your man when it comes to all things sports. He covers a wide range of sports for Sports Betting Sites, and has been published in some pretty reputable outlets, such as USA Today Sports, Vice, Bloody Elbow, Fight! Magazine, UFC 360, and Narratively. Trent’s got the inside track on all the happenings in the world of sports.
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