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Insights on 2019 Kentucky Derby Props
Favorite Omaha Beach has been scratched due to an entrapped epiglottis (which would cause difficulties breathing), but there are plenty of picks for Kentucky Derby betting props on the board for Saturday as the Run for the Roses takes place.
As the countdown continues toward the Run for the Roses it remains a tight three-way atop the odds to win the 145th Kentucky Derby, with three Bob Baffert contenders Game Winner and Roadster tied at +350 and Improbable at +500. But while it remains a hard-fought battle on the Kentucky Derby betting futures, the odds of this year's winner claiming a decisive victory by over 1.5 lengths are pegged at a short -160 on one of the dozens of props bets available for Saturday's running of the 2019 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
The 2019 Kentucky Derby field has a tough act to follow. Justify galloped to victory by 2.5 lengths in the 2018 race, and followed up with victories at the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes to become the second horse in four years to win the Triple Crown.
However, no contender is expected to follow in Justify's hoof prints, with sports bettors wagering on picks emerging out of this Kentucky Derby field facing lengthy +350 odds.
The Derby betting odds improve on any contender winning at least two of the three races that make up the Triple Crown of American Thoroughbred Racing.
A Kentucky Derby winner has gone on to claim victory in the Preakness Stakes on four occasions in the past seven years. A horse has also tallied wins in two of three Triple Crown races 15 times over the past 25 years, fueling +135 odds favoring that trend being extended in 2019.
The odds lengthen in wagering on Saturday's winner going on to claim victory in the Preakness Stakes, which sit at +160 on the Kentucky Derby props.
With no contender apart from recent winners posting wins in both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes since Thunder Gulch in 1995, if you're betting on the odds of any horse winning both the first and last jewels of the Triple Crown, they sit at +250.
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More Kentucky Derby Props: Times, Trainers
Elsewhere on the Kentucky Derby props, the betting odds of 2019's winner topping Justify's winning time of 2:04:20 on a muddy Churchill Downs track a year ago are pegged at a narrow -550.
And despite rain remaining in the Louisville weather forecast for Saturday, the Kentucky Derby odds of 2019's winner turning in a time UNDER 2:02:65 sit at -110.
However, the record time set by the legendary horse Secretariat at the 1973 Kentucky Derby is expected to survive this year's race. That winner galloped to an unprecedented victory in just 1:59:40, and a Kentucky Derby props wager on any horse eclipsing Secretariat's record this time around will pay out on lofty +1200 odds.
On six occasions over the 145-year history of the Kentucky Derby, the horse race has concluded under a cloud of controversy. Most recently it was John Velazquez, who unsuccessfully made a claim of foul against winner Monarchos, back in 2001.
While Velazquez' inquiry failed, he went on to win the 2017 Kentucky Derby atop race horse Always Dreaming, and returns to Churchill Downs for this year's Kentucky Derby riding Code of Honor. However this year's race is expected to remain free of controversy, with short -850 odds favoring no inquiry delaying the result.
As mentioned earlier all three of the top contenders on the Kentucky Derby betting futures are trained by Bob Baffert, including Game Winner, Roadster, and Improbable. The legendary American trainer has five Kentucky Derby winners to his credit, including Justify and 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.
In addition, two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher has two betting contenders in this year's field, including Cutting Humor and Spinoff. It's -110 odds that it will be a first time Kentucky Derby victory for the winning trainer on Saturday, while there are -130 odds that the winning trainer would be enjoying a return trip to the winner's circle.