After the pandemic affected the 2020 Kentucky Derby, the best three-year-olds in the world are back at it on the first Saturday of May. The 2021 Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown promise return to normalcy and are also fantastic pay per head money generating events. Check out Kentucky Derby odds on the favorites and how to manage horse racing betting action.
The 2020 coronavirus pandemic affected every sport, including thoroughbred racing. But while leagues like the NBA and NHL paused their seasons, the thoroughbred industry stopped running at no point in 2020.
A-tracks like Churchill Downs and Santa Anita Park didn’t open on time. Many, like Churchill Downs, moved their most important events.
But tracks like Fonner Park in Nebraska and Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma ran races while the rest of the sports world languished. Because other sports headed to the sidelines, horse racing became the live events in which many sports fans gravitated.
Churchill Downs opened their 2020 meeting on May 16, fourteen days after what should have been last year’s Kentucky Derby Day. Gamblers of all persuasions were so excited that the Twin Spires track tripled 2019’s opening weekend handle.
But although Churchill’s 2020 opening weekend was a success, the 2020 Kentucky Derby wasn’t. Handle on last year’s Kentucky Derby fell 52% from 2019.
One of the problems is that horse racing ran the Triple Crown, the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont, out of order. The Belmont came first and not at the traditional one and a half-mile distance.
The Derby was the second race in the Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness. 2021 is a return to a typical five-week Triple Crown of Horse Racing.
This year’s Kentucky Derby takes place on Saturday, May 1. Bookie agents, those that offer free betting software, should expect a considerable boost in revenue on the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
Two of the most exciting contenders in recent years will run in the race. Check out more information on current Kentucky Derby odds as well as the 2021 Triple Crown.
Kentucky Derby Odds: Are Essential Quality and Rock Your World on a clash for greatness?
One horseplaying rule is to create fair odds on each runner in a race. Oddsmaking thoroughbred handicappers have decided that Essential Quality and Rock Your World are the two best runners in the event.
Essential Quality good enough to win the TC
Most horseplayers agree with the 2-to-1 odds on Kentucky Derby morning line favorite Essential Quality. The undefeated Blue Grass Stakes winner also won the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Essential Quality has all the tools to take not only the Kentucky Derby but also the Triple Crown. Most thoroughbred racing historians peg the Belmont Stakes as the toughest of the three events to win.
Thirty-two horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby, and the Preakness, only to fail in the Belmont. When it comes to the Belmont, Essential Quality should have the final leg in the bag.
Tapit, Essential Quality’s sire, has produced a couple of Belmont Stakes winners, Creator in 2016 and Tapwrit in 2017. Essential Quality’s blood from his father should ensure he can get the Belmont Stakes distance.
Rock Your World also good enough to take the Crown
Like Essential Quality, Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World has all the tools to win the Triple Crown. The John Sadler trained runner seamlessly transitioned from turf to the dirt.
The significant reason is that it proves something about Rock Your World that makes him a special horse. The Candy Ride sired runner loves to run.
He enjoys running, and he enjoys beating other horses. Many horses with ability end up not winning races because they don’t have the desire to run.
The most expensive thoroughbred ever purchased, The Green Monkey, for $16 million in 2006, failed to win a race in three tries.
After the third and final maiden try, trainer Todd Pletcher realized The Green Monkey didn’t want to race. Thoroughbreds are animals.
Sometimes, they don’t want to do what humans want them to do.
The Santa Anita Derby winner loves to run. He’s also fast.
Rock Your World got the first quarter-mile of the Santa Anita Derby in 22.42. He ran the half-mile in 46.11. He ran three-quarters of a mile in 1:10.64, got the mile in 1:36.1, and finished the one and one-eighth miles in 1:49.
The speed ratings assigned to Rock Your World suggest he ran faster winning his final prep than any other horse in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, including Essential Quality.
Right now, racebook handicappers are all over Rock Your World. See below for handling betting on all Kentucky Derby odds horses, especially how to control action on Rock Your World and Essential Quality.
Kentucky Derby odds and betting success? Set bet and payout limits
No matter the agent, the key to running a successful PPH sportsbook that offers horse racing is to set max betting and max payout limits. Your players must understand that you aren’t Churchill Downs.
You’re not accepting over $200 million in bets on the Kentucky Derby. Tell your players upfront what the bet limits and payout limits are on Triple Crown races.
Also, tell them limits on future bets. Experienced horseplayers call bookie agents looking for better odds than the 2-to-1 on Essential Quality and the 5-to-1 morning line on Rock Your World.
You can give your players better odds if you get a call. But be an intelligent bookie software agent by limiting what players can bet and how much you’re willing to pay.
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