The Kentucky Derby is the most famous horse race in the world, and the 2025 edition happens Saturday, May 3! The race is a 1 ¼-mile dirt race for 20 of the best three-year-olds in the world, and they will run for a $5 million purse and a place in history.
Betting on the Kentucky Derby can be just as lucrative for a bettor as racing in it is for the owners! After all, with such a big field, there are always good horses who go off at long shot odds. If you crack the handicapping puzzle, you can net a life-changing score in the Kentucky Derby!
Keep on reading to find out the best horses to bet in the Kentucky Derby, and the best online sportsbooks to bet on races at Churchill Downs.
Kentucky Derby Online Betting
Going to the Kentucky Derby is the thrill of a lifetime, but we can’t all make it to Louisville for the Derby. Fortunately, online sports betting puts the Kentucky Derby in the palm of your hand by letting you bet the race from your smartphone, tablet, or computer – anywhere with an internet connection.
Our expert reviews will help you find the best online sportsbooks for betting the Kentucky Derby. Every site we recommend has the basics: trusted payouts and deposits, market-leading odds, and intuitive user interfaces. Each site also has great betting incentives you’ll never find at the track like sign-up bonuses, horse racing rebates, and promotions that will help you build your bankroll faster than ever!
These are the best places to bet the Kentucky Derby online:
Kentucky Derby 2025 Field
This is the official field for the 2025 Kentucky Derby including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning lines:
- Citizen Bull (Bob Baffert / Martin Garcia) - 20/1
- Neoequos (Saffie Joseph, Jr. / Flavien Prat) - 30/1
- Final Gambit (Brad Cox / Luan Machado) - 30/1
- Rodriguez (Bob Baffert / Mike Smith) - 12/1
- American Promise (D. Wayne Lukas / Nic Juarez) - 30/1
- Admire Daytona (Yukihiro Kato / Christophe Lemaire) - 30/1
- Luxor Cafe (Noriyuki Hori / Joao Moreira) - 15/1
- Journalism (Michael McCarthy / Umberto Rispoli) - 3/1
- Burnham Square (Ian Wilkes / Brian Hernandez, Jr.) - 12/1
- Grande (Todd Pletcher / John Velazquez) - 20/1
- Flying Mohawk (Whit Beckman / Joseph Ramos) - 30/1
- East Avenue (Brendan Walsh / Manny Franco) - 20/1
- Publisher (Steve Asmussen / Irad Ortiz) - 20/1
- Tiztastic (Steve Asmussen / Joel Rosario) - 20/1
- Render Judgment (Kenny McPeek / Julien Leparoux) - 30/1
- Coal Battle (Lonnie Briley / Juan Vargas) - 30/1
- Sandman (Mark Casse / Jose Ortiz) - 6/1
- Sovereignty (Bill Mott / Junior Alvarado) - 5/1
- Chunk of Gold (Ethan West / Jareth Loveberry) - 30/1
- Owen Almighty (Brian Lynch / Javier Castellano) - 30/1
- Baeza (John Shirreffs / Flavien Prat) - ALSO ELIGIBLE - 12/1
Baeza only gets into the Kentucky Derby if at least one horse scratches from the main field before 9:00 a.m. Friday morning, when Kentucky Derby betting begins.
Though the morning line is an educated forecast of the betting board from the track handicapper, it is no guarantee of a price you’ll get on the Kentucky Derby if you bet at the track. Your best bet is to bet the Kentucky Derby at an online sportsbook. After all, since you can get fixed-odds betting on the biggest races, you can lock in the best price just by placing a bet!
These are the odds on the horses at the top of the market for Kentucky Derby 2025:
 |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Journalism | +300 | +285 | +275 |
| Sovereignty | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Sandman | +800 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Luxor Cafe | +1200 | +1100 | +1000 |
| American Promise | +1200 | +1800 | +2500 |
| Burnham Square | +1400 | +1400 | +1200 |
| Rodriguez | +1400 | +1400 | +1600 |
Best Picks for the Kentucky Derby
There is no substitute for knowing about the horses, but with all the Kentucky Derby horses usually showing a lot of class, historical trends can help as well. Those useful Kentucky Derby handicapping trends include the horse’s record coming into the race, the trainer and jockey records in the Kentucky Derby, and the odds on the tote board.
Favorites do not always win, but favorites usually run well in the Kentucky Derby. Though the last six winners of the Kentucky Derby have not been the favorite, all but one betting favorite since the Kentucky Derby points era began in 2013 has finished in the superfecta.
Also, Kentucky Derby winners run well in their final prep. All 11 winners since the beginning of the points system -- yes, even the likes of Rich Strike, Country House, and Mystik Dan! -- have finished first, second, or third in their final prep race. Recent good form matters!
Kentucky Derby Best Bet
Burnham Square is the 2025 Kentucky Derby best bet. He ran down East Avenue to win the Blue Grass in his final prep – and though East Avenue went fast up front, he was uncontested. This time Burnham Square gets a race with a gaggle of one-way speed horses who are likely to fight it out, leading to a great setup for closers.
Another positive about Burnham Square is that, if Churchill seems to be playing a little tougher to close on, he has shown he can sit a little closer to the pace than a truly deep closer, while still staying out of the fight. He also drew a good middle gate, which bodes well for getting the trip.
Kentucky Derby Favorites
Journalism is the well-defined favorite for the Kentucky Derby, and for good reason. He is undefeated at two turns, and just kept being horses in the California prep series. He isn’t a chalk who just needs things easy, either: he handled a rough trip in the Santa Anita Derby and still won. He is also tactical enough to stay out of a pace battle, important in a race with more one-way speed than any Kentucky Derby since the points system began.
Sovereignty will also be well bet, but stands a good chance. The Bill Mott trainee is a closer, so he’ll appreciate all the early pace in the race. It takes talent to be a closer who earns his bid at speed-friendly Gulfstream, which is exactly what Sovereignty did. And, he is proven over the Churchill course – he broke his maiden with a blowout score in the Street Sense (G3) last fall.
Kentucky Derby Price Horses for Exotics
Consider both Chunk of Gold and Grande for deeper exotics. Chunk of Gold is a plucky longshot closer who just kept showing up at Fair Grounds; he gets the right pace setup and he’ll be a price for under-the-radar connections. Grande only has three starts, but has run well each time, shown some pace versatility, has a nice stamina pedigree, and drew a good middle post.
Kentucky Derby 2025 Picks
Free Kentucky Derby picks are here:
Burnham Square is expected to be a solid mid-priced horse for the Kentucky Derby. You can go for the gusto for a win bet, but with trip chaos possible and 20 horses lining up in the gate, place and show wagers are also likely to pay well. Given the field size, betting him across the board is a viable option as well..
- $20 win/place/show: #9 Burnham Square
Kentucky Derby 2025 Exotic Bets
Long shots often find the exotics, so this is a great way to go for a huge score in the Kentucky Derby!
The exacta is an easy bet to make. Though a straight exacta requires the horses to finish in order, you can box it and cash a ticket if they finish in any order. This is particularly effective if you put some prices in there, since you are paying for every combination.
However, given the setup and the likely prices on live horses in the 2025 Kentucky Derby, a key fits the situation better. Playing a few horses around one you think has a strong chance to be in the exacta allows for a bit more spread in the other spots, especially if some favorites are likely to run well:
- $1 Exacta Key: #9 Burnham Square with #8 Journalism, #18 Sovereignty, #19 Chunk of Gold
The trifecta and superfecta are more difficult to hit, but they typically pay even more when they hit! Given the number of combinations, it is a good idea to play these using a key horse, and playing a group of other horses around them to finish in the top three or four.
- $1 Trifecta Key: $1 Trifecta Key: #9 Burnham Square with #8 Journalism, #17 Sandman, #18 Sovereignty, #19 Chunk of Gold
- $1 Superfecta Key: #9 Burnham Square with #8 Journalism, #10 Grande, #17 Sandman, #18 Sovereignty, #19 Chunk of Gold
Kentucky Derby Exotic Wagering Opportunities
The Kentucky Derby is not the only big betting race of the day at Churchill Downs. On Derby Day specifically, there will be a Kentucky Derby Pick 6. The bet, which requires you to pick six winners in a row, is traditionally an all-stakes Pick 6 that features the Kentucky Derby and five other stakes races on Kentucky Derby Day, with a $0.20 minimum.
In addition to the Kentucky Derby, Saturday’s card at Churchill Downs features eight other rich stakes races: the Knicks Go Overnight Stakes, the Churchill Downs Stakes (G1), the Derby City Distaff (G1), the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2), the Twin Spires Turf Sprint (G2), the American Turf (G2), the Pat Day Mile (G2), and the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (G1).
In addition to the Pick 6 wagers, Kentucky Derby Day also features five Pick 5 wagers, five Pick 4 wagers, and rolling Daily Double and Pick 3 wagers throughout the day. In addition to these conventional multi-race wagers, there will be an all-stakes, all-dirt Pick 5 and an all-three-year-old Pick 3. There will also be win, place, show, exacta, trifecta, superfecta, and super high five wagering all day long.
You can also play the Oaks-Derby Double on Friday. That wager, which you place on Friday, pays out if you pick the winners of both the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks. With so many options for betting, whatever your strongest opinions are, you can turn them into cold, hard cash!
