The beauty of betting on horse racing is the ever-present prospect of winning a lot of money for very little money. Since the Kentucky Derby is less than three weeks away, let’s go to the history books to see how this plays out.
In 2005, the toteboard at Churchill Downs lit up like a pinball machine, courtesy of Giacomo winning the Run for the Roses at 50.30-1. Oh, but he was Secretariat compared to the runner-up—71.60-1 Closing Argument. Afleet Alex, who would go on to win the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, added some sanity by finishing third at 9-2. But Don’t Get Mad made a heck of a lot of bettors happy when he completed the superfecta at 29.20-1. The result: a $9,814.80 payout on the $2 exacta, a $133,134.80 return on the $2 trifecta, and an eye-watering $864,253 on the $1 superfecta.
You don’t even have to go back two decades to see another example. Take the wayback machine to 2022, when 80.80-1 Rich Strike—who got into the Derby with five minutes to spare—put on a closing finish for the ages, slaloming from 17th to first and stealing the Derby in the last 50 yards. Savvy/lucky bettors who threw a few dollars on him were rewarded with a $163.60 return on a $2 win bet. Favorite Epicenter (4-1) finishing second and 6-1 Zandon taking third meant 2005’s record exotic totals wouldn’t be threatened. But 35-1 Simplification coming home fourth did produce some staggering payouts: $4,101.20 for the $2 exacta, $29,741.40 for the $2 trifecta, and a staggering $321,500.10 for the $1 superfecta.
It doesn’t happen often in the Derby. But you get the idea how horse racing provides the opportunity to turn a small wager into life-changing paydays. And the plethora of wagers at your disposal provides plenty of ways to do just that.
Last year, a record $349 million was wagered on Derby Day. And with 20 horses, there are endless wagering combinations to consider.
Horse racing wagers are generally broken down into two types: vertical and horizontal. Vertical wagers are wagers on one race. Those are your win/place/show (and yes, across-the-board), along with exactas, trifectas, and superfectas. Horizontal wagers are also known as multi-race wagers. Those require horseplayers to pick winners of multiple races. These are your Daily Doubles, Pick 3s, Pick 4s, Pick 5s, and Pick 6s.
Here, we’ll cover Vertical wagers, how they work, when to bet them, and what they entail.
Win/Place/Show
Also known as straight bets, these are self-explanatory and are the best places to start for beginners. You find a horse you like for whatever reason: name, speed figures, form, or what-have-you, and you bet at least $2 on him to win. If he wins, you walk to the window and collect.
A place bet means you bet on the horse to finish either first or second. A show bet means you wagered on him to finish first, second or third. If he finishes in the money, so do you.
There is the across-the-board bet. That’s betting on a horse to win, place, and show. That three-bet wager is advisable when you like a horse at a good price, typically 8-1 or better. You usually don’t want to go across-the-board on a short-priced favorite because the payout doesn’t warrant the cost.
During horse racing’s glory days in the 1940s and 1950s, straight wagers were the only wagers offered, outside of the Daily Double, which involved only the first two races of the day. Which leads us into …
Exacta
The Exacta was founded at Hollywood Park in 1971. It requires a bettor to pick the top two finishers in exact order. For example, you like the 5 and the 7 horses in a race. You can bet a 5-7 exacta, and if the 5 wins and the 7 places, you win.
This bet can also be done with multiple horses, either through a box or a key. The box wager means you use multiple horses in both the win and place positions. If you boxed the 5 and the 7, you’d win your bet if the horses finished 5-7 or 7-5. A key means you put a certain horse atop the ticket and others underneath. You could key the 5 over the 7 and the 9, meaning if the 5 wins and either the 7 or 9 finishes second, you cash.
Keep in mind that a box doubles your wagering amount. A $2 boxed exacta with two horses costs $4. A $2 keyed exacta with one horse atop and three underneath costs $12. Most tracks offer $1 exactas, lessening the hit to your bankroll.
The exacta is good when you like certain horses but aren’t quite sure about the order. They also can produce strong payouts when you catch a high-priced horse atop the ticket.
Trifecta
The Trifecta requires you to pick the top three finishers in exact order. It’s offered in amounts as low as 50 cents at some tracks and, like the exacta, offers box and key options.
Experienced horseplayers will play trifecta keys when they like a horse to win. For example, you like the 1, but think the 4, 5, and 9 can get a piece of the board. You also think the high-priced 7 can factor down-ticket. So you’d bet a trifecta key with the 1 over 4, 5, 9, and over 4, 5, 9 and 7. You cash if the 1 wins, any of the 4, 5, or 9 finish second, or the 4, 5, 9, or 7 takes third.
You can also box trifectas, but keep in mind that your cost increases exponentially as you add horses. A four-horse tri box costs $24. The other problem with boxing trifectas is that all horses in your wager are not created equal. You’re paying money for a 20-1 shot to have the same odds of winning as a 5-2 favorite. Both your bankroll and your handicapping are better off taking a stand and keying horses.
Superfecta
As we saw in 2005 and 2022, the Superfecta is an extremely difficult wager: picking the top four finishers can pay staggering windfalls.
And regardless of the year, even with minimums as low as 10 cents at most tracks, you’re swinging for the fences here. Hitting superfectas requires a big bankroll and an incredible amount of luck. This isn’t a wager for the short-of-experience or light-of-bankroll. A four-horse $1 superfecta box costs $24. Box five and the price jumps to $120. A six-horse box is $360. This wager is great when your handicapping skills improve to the point where you can find value horses—like Simplification—who you like to get a piece of the board.
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