Road to the 2020 Breeders Cup Odds and Contenders

Every year, the horse racing season concludes with the Breeders’ Cup—a two-day world championship series that features the world’s top thoroughbreds. This year’s event takes place at Keenland on November 6 and 7 and has a grand total of $31 million in prize money. The lion’s share ($6 million) of that purse is for the Classic, which we expect to be highly competitive this year. And with no spectators allowed at the event, now is a good time to learn how to bet on Breeders’ Cup races in our online racebook.

2020 Breeders’ Cup Favourite

Improbable (+300 Breeders Cup betting odds), the Breeders’ Cup Classic favourite and one of Bob Baffert’s entries, earned his Breeders’ Cup berth by winning the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes and Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes this summer. He has three grade 1 victories and one second-place finish in his four starts this year and has already beat some of the top competitors on the Breeders’ Cup 2020 odds board. Reaching a Beyer Figure of 108 in his last outing, Improbable clearly has the power needed to bring home the Classic; he also has already won a grade 1 race at 1 ¼ miles. Watch for him as he breaks from Post No. 8.

2020 Breeders’ Cup Value Odds

After Improbable, the 2020 Breeders’ Cup odds board gets crowded with four solid contenders, ranging from Tiz the Law at +350 to Authentic at +550. Tiz the Law has four straight victories this year, none more significant than the Belmont Stakes. His win streak ended with the Kentucky Derby in September, when he finished 1 ¼ lengths behind the winner, Authentic. Tiz the Law should be well rested when he takes the field at Keeneland since trainer Barclay Tagg opted to skip the Preakness Stakes to keep him fresh for November.

We’ll get a little blast from the past with four-year-old Maximum Security (+400). After getting disqualified from last year’s Kentucky Derby for bumping another horse, this Bob Baffert trainee continued his dominance; he has 10 wins and two second-place finishes in his 12 career starts—minus his Kentucky Derby blemish where he technically finished first.

2020 Breeders’ Cup Long Shot Odds

While it’s quite rare, every so often, a long shot beats the odds for Breeders’ Cup glory and wins the Classic. In 1993, French import, Arcangues pulled off the biggest upset in Breeders’ Cup history as a 133-1 long shot. We don’t have any contenders like Arcangues this year, but options are available in the +1600 to +50000 range on the Breeders’ Cup betting lines, including By My Standards, whose six starts this year comprises four victories and two second-place finishes. Check out all of the Breeders’ Cup betting options at Bodog Racebook as we approach the must-see event at Keeneland Racecourse.

How to Bet on the Breeders’ Cup

Learning how to bet on Breeders’ Cup contenders can be as straightforward as a straight bet on a horse you like, or as complex as a one of the more advanced exotics. We’ll explain it all and let you decide what’s the best way to get into Breeders’ Cup betting.

Breeders’ Cup Straight Wagers (Win/Place/Show)

The simplest way to bet on horses is to take a straight wager, which is a bet on a single horse. There are three ways to place a straight wager: win, place, and show. Win requires the horse to cross the finish line first, while place means they can finish first or second, and you’d still win your bet. A “show” bet pays when your horse finishes first, second, or third.

Breeders’ Cup Exotic Bets

Once you feel comfortable placing straight bets, you may want to begin to incorporate some exotics into your betting repertoire. These bets include multiple horses and pay significantly more than the basic straight wagers.

Breeders’ Cup Exacta Betting: What Is an Exacta Bet?

An exacta involves predicting the winner and second-place finisher in the correct finishing order.

Breeders’ Cup Trifecta Betting: What Is a Trifecta Bet?

A trifecta is similar to the exacta, but you need to predict the top three finishers—all in the right order.

Breeders’ Cup Superfecta Betting: What Is a Superfecta Bet?

A superfecta pays when you predict the first four finishers in the right order.

Breeders’ Cup Quinella Betting: What Is a Quinella Bet?

The quinella is a good bet to start with when you begin your foray into exotics. It involves predicting the top two finishers in any order.

What Are Boxed Wagers in Breeders’ Cup Betting?

With a “boxed,” you no longer need to predict the exact finishing order for your bet to pay out. In this way, a quinella is essentially a boxed exacta.

What Are Wheeled Bets in Breeders’ Cup Betting?

Wheeled bets involve selecting a single horse to win, and then picking multiple horses to finish second, third, and/or fourth.

Breeders’ Cup Futures Betting: What Is a Futures Bet in Horse Racing?

A futures bet in horse racing involves picking the winner of a race before race day. It has a different payout structure than bets made on the actual race day, which use Morning Line odds and thus a pari-mutuel betting system. We’ll get into more detail on this in the How is My Racebook Payout Determined section.

Breeders’ Cup Prop Betting: What Is a Prop Bet in Horse Racing?

A prop is unique in that it doesn’t involve picking the winner(s) of a race. Instead, it proposes a possible scenario and asks bettors to bet on whether it will happen, or not. An example of a popular horse prop is Will the winner of the Breeders’ Cup be a Bob Baffert-trained horse?

What Is a Coupled Entry Bet in Breeders’ Cup Betting?

When two horses share the same trainer, or come from the same stable, the opportunity for a coupled entry comes up. This bet means that as long as one of the horses from the coupled entry wins, your bet pays out.

What Is a Pick 3 or Pick 4 in Breeders’ Cup Betting?

With 14 races on the docket, the Breeders’ Cup makes it possible to combine three or four races at Santa Anita Park during the two-day event through the Pick 3 or Pick 4 wagers. Each one of your picks must win their race in order for the Pick 3 or 4 to pay.

What Is a Daily Double in Breeders’ Cup Betting?

A Daily Double is the same as a Pick 3 or 4, but has just two races instead of three or four.

How is my Racebook Payout Determined?

Unless you’re betting in the futures or props section of our racebook, all horse betting uses a pari-mutuel betting system. Morning Line odds for Breeders’ Cup are assigned to each contender based on how the handicapper thinks the public will bet, but they’re not used to calculate the actual payouts. All of the incoming bets are placed in a pool, and after the race concludes, the racebook removes the take, and awards the rest of the funds to the winning bets based on the final odds.

On the other hand, for futures bets and props, fixed odds are used, so your payout is determined by the odds advertised with your pick when you fill out your bet slip.