Betting On the Kentucky Derby Top 3 Horses

The 150th Kentucky Derby is just days away, and anticipation for betting on the Kentucky Derby reaches a fever pitch! Three horses have separated themselves from the pack, and astute bettors are already diving deep into their Derby futures. Will Forever Young, Sierra Leone and Catching Freedom cross the finish line first?

Many horseplayers believe the world’s most popular horse race will be a fight between Bluegrass Stakes winner Sierra Leone and Florida Derby champ Fierceness. The next horse after the 3-1 second choice Sierra Leone and 5-2 top choice Fierceness is Louisiana Derby winner Catching Freedom at 8-1. Check out Kentucky Derby lines and analysis on the top 3 horses.

2024 Kentucky Derby Lines for the Top 3 Favorites to Win the Fastest 2 Minutes of Sports | MyBookie Horse Racing Betting Preview for the 1st Leg of the Triple Crown

2024 Kentucky Derby | 150th Running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve
Grade I stakes race | 1+1⁄4 mi (10 furlongs; 2,012 m)
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Churchill Downs | Louisville, Kentucky, United States

Forever Young 5-2 | Favorite Based on Odds

2024 Wins: 100%

February 23rd, 2021 in Japan by Real Steel (JPN) out of Forever Darling
Bay Colt

When he’s on, Fierceness is hands down the best three year old in the world. The 105 Beyer the Todd Pletcher runner posted when winning the Grade 1 Breeders Cup Juvenile last November was a scintillating performance.

In that race, Fierceness actually tracked the pacesetter before bounding away for the win. In his first race as a three year old, though, things didn’t go as well as Fierceness got pinballed at the start and had no desire to go after Hades and Domestic Product.

Fierceness bounced out of the Holy Bull with an unreal performance in the Florida Derby. But before inaugurating Fierceness as the Kentucky Derby winner, even though his 110 Beyer by far exceeds any of his competitors’ speed ratings, it’s important to note that the Florida Derby had seven entrants and none of which were close to Sierra Leone’s, or even Catching Freedom’s, quality.

In fact, the Florida Derby might have been the worst of the major preps in terms of decent runners. So Fierceness beat up a bunch of also rans while bounding on the lead posting easy fractions. After more handicapping, Fierceness is an underlay at 5-2.

Forever Young
Favorite Pick: Forever Young 5-2 | Betting on Kentucky Derby Lines
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Race

Sierra Leone 3-1 | Second Choice Based on Odds

2024 Wins: 100%

March 30th, 2021 in Kentucky by Gun Runner out of Heavenly Love
Dark Bay or Brown Colt

The Bluegrass Stakes winner has a fantastic closing kick. He won the Bluegrass Stakes while navigating through a field of eleven, which means Sierra Leone is fantastic at moving via the cues from the jockey.

In this case, the jockey is Tyler Gaffalione who tends to do his best work on the biggest days. Gaffalione knows the horse well and Chad Brown is due for a Derby victory. But like Fierceness, there are some knocks.

Sierra Leone breaks from post position 2 and could get shuffled too far behind the pace to make up enough ground. Not only that, but he has yet to post a Beyer Fig remotely close to Fierceness’s.

One thing to like, and it’s an important thing to consider, is that Sierra Leone’s mind appears to be sharp, meaning he’s easily trainable and will do exactly what Gaffalione wants. If the set up works out, the Brown runner can run down the leaders in the stretch.

Sierra Leone
Second Pick: Sierra Leone 3-1 | Betting on Kentucky Derby Lines
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Race

Catching Freedom 8-1 | Third Choice Based on Odds

2024 Wins: 67%

March 7th, 2021 in Kentucky by Constitution out of Catch My Drift
Bay Colt

Another with a great closing kick, Catching Freedom goes for trainer Brad Cox. Right now, Cox might be the best trainer in the United States. However, Catching Freedom didn’t run overly fast when winning the Louisiana Derby.

Still, he closed from almost 9 lengths back at 1 3/16 miles. The Derby is 1 ¼, which means Catching Freedom has more real estate to unleash the closing kick. Like Sierra Leone, though, things must set up for him to catch the front runners in a 20 horse field.

If they do, the Cox runner is good enough to win the Derby but betting closes in this race doesn’t work out often. So think about it before laying money on Catching Freedom.

Catching Freedom
Third Pick: Catching Freedom 8-1 | Betting on Kentucky Derby Lines
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Race

2024 Kentucky Derby Field: Post Positions, Betting Odds, Jockeys, Trainers

Program Numbers	Horse	Qualifying Points	Trainer	Jockey
1	Dornoch	75	Danny Gargan	Luis Saez
2	Sierra Leone	155	Chad C. Brown	Tyler Gaffalione
3	Mystik Dan	46	Kenneth G. McPeek	Brian Hernandez Jr.
4	Catching Freedom	125	Brad H. Cox	Flavien Prat
5	Catalytic	50	Saffie Joseph Jr.	José Ortiz
6	Just Steel	65	D. Wayne Lukas	Keith Asmussen
7	Honor Marie	65	Whitworth D. Beckman	Ben Curtis
8	Just a Touch	75	Brad H. Cox	Florent Geroux
9	Encino	40	Brad H. Cox	Axel Concepcion
10	T O Password (JPN)	40	Daisuke Takayanagi	Kazushi Kimura
11	Forever Young (JPN)	100	Yoshito Yahagi	Ryusei Sakai
12	Track Phantom	70	Steven M. Asmussen	Joel Rosario
13	West Saratoga	67	Larry Demeritte	Jesús Castañón
14	Endlessly	100	Michael McCarthy	Umberto Rispoli
15	Domestic Product	60	Chad C. Brown	Irad Ortiz Jr.
16	Grand Mo the First	40	Victor Barboza Jr.	Emisael Jaramillo
17	Fierceness	136	Todd A. Pletcher	John R. Velazquez
18	Stronghold	125	Philip D’Amato	Antonio Fresu
19	Resilience	110	William I. Mott	Junior Alvarado
20	Society Man	50	Danny Gargan	Frankie Dettori
Also eligible
21	Epic Ride	35	John Ennis	Adam Beschizza
22	Mugatu	14	Jeff Engler	Joseph Talamo

Updated Odds to Win 2024 Kentucky Derby

Horses	Odds
Top Tier
Sierra Leone	+250
Fierceness	+250
Forever Young	+800
Catching Freedom	+1000
Just A Touch	+1000
Stronghold	+1400
Endlessly	+2000
Honor Marie	+1400
Resilience	+2000
Domestic Product	+2000
Dornoch	+2500

Kentucky Derby Future Odds

Horses	Odds
Bottom Tier
Epic Ride	+2500
Just Steel	+2000
Mystik Dan	+2500
Society Man	+2000
T O Password	+2500
Track Phantom	+2500
Epic Ride	+2500
Catalytic	+4000
West Saratoga	+5000
Grand Mo the First	+6600
Mugatu	+6600

Almost the Day of the Race
With Forever Young, Sierra Leone and Catching Freedom shaping up as the top 3 to win the race, don’t miss your chance to place your bets on the ‘Run for the Roses’! Head over to our Kentucky Derby betting page now and see if you can pick the champion!

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Triple Crown Betting Alert
Get ready to witness history in the making in 2024! As we gear up for the Kentucky Derby, remember to keep an eye on the news for the Preakness Stakes favorites and the Belmont Stakes favorites. Will there be a Triple Crown winner in 2024? Join us as we analyze the contenders and explore the thrilling possibilities, guiding you towards your winning bets on each leg of the Triple Crown journey!

Previous Betting News | MyBookie News Archive

Kentucky Derby Top 3 Horses to Bet On

Previous Betting News

2019 Kentucky Derby post-positions and odds are set. None of the favorites are in my Top 3. Omaha Beach is the 4/1 favorite followed by Game Winner at 5/1 and both Roadster and Improbable at 6/1. Check out my Top 3 horses along with updated morning line Kentucky Derby odds and post-position numbers!

2019 Kentucky Derby Top 3 Horses to Bet On

7-Maximum Security

2019 Kentucky Derby Odds: 10/1

The morning line doesn’t surprise me because horseplayers are hung up on a couple of things. First, they don’t believe he’s legit even though he easily won the Florida Derby because he broke his maiden in a $16,000 claimer. Second, they don’t feel he can rate.

The horseplayers that believe those things could be wrong on both counts. Maximum Security ran in a $16,000 maiden claimer because trainer Jason Servis had no idea how good he was. He’s a terrible work horse, rarely throwing in a fast work, and Servis thought he didn’t like to run.

The fact he excels on the racetrack means he’s got a sharp mind. Horses like Maximum Security know when they’re working and know when it’s time to get serious. He also seems to thrive on competition and, so far, has responded brilliantly to anything a jockey has asked him to do.

6-Vekoma

2019 Kentucky Derby Odds: 20/1

Vekoma has a wonky stride. That’s one of the reasons he’s offering overlaid 20/1 odds on the morning line. The other reason many horseplayers don’t like Vekoma is because he’s raced greenly in his last two. He looked an easy winner in the Fountain of Youth stakes after a menacing move around the turn, but he ducked in and lost momentum. In the Blue Grass Stakes, he was all over the racetrack in the stretch even though he had a clear lead.

By making Vekoma my second choice, I’m counting on trainer George Weaver to have fixed the issues. Vekoma’s talented enough to take these wire-to-wire. He also knows how to rate. The problem is that he doesn’t run as straight as he should. Weaver is a good enough horseman to have straightened things out.

If I am right, Vekoma will pay handsomely on the bottom of my exacta. If not? Oh, well. That’s horse racing!

19-Spinoff

2019 Kentucky Derby Odds: 30/1

The odds on Spinoff to win the Kentucky Derby on May 4 are downright ridiculous. The fact he’s trained by Todd Pletcher means he’s no worse than 20/1. He also finished second to By My Standards in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.

That was only his fourth race, which means there’s room for improvement. Not only that, but he had to go wide while By My Standards caught him running up the rail. Spinoff has a huge shot of pulling off a massive Derby win on Saturday.