Betting on the Kentucky Derby is hard. Scratch that; it’s winning that’s hard. Kidding aside, the Kentucky Derby usually has a lot of young horses vying for number 1. Although this makes the races exciting, handicapping the race can be hard since the result can be more unpredictable. Why? Most young horses aren’t very fond of huge crowds, and so they might show some negative attitude towards the race.
This makes educated guesses on your bets also hard, and you can’t even put a lot of research towards new horses since they don’t have a lot of races yet. And because of this, mistakes can happen from time to time, especially for beginners out there. If you’re a first-timer in the Kentucky Derby, then you should be wary of the most common mistakes you have to avoid in the tournament. But first, let’s talk about what the Kentucky Derby is.
So, what is the Kentucky Derby?
Kentucky Derby is an annual horse race that typically begins in May. This is a competition of Grade I stakes races that is joined by three-year-old thoroughbreds. These horses will race each other for over 2.0 km. The Kentucky Derby is also known as the “The Run for Roses” because the winner will be showered with rose petals as a tradition. Not only that, but it’s also called “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” because of the duration of the race.
The Kentucky Derby, however, is only the first part of winning the Triple Crown. The next tournaments will be Preakness and Belmont Stakes. A horse must win all three of these tournaments to win the Triple Crown. Now that you know what the Kentucky Derby is, learning how to bet on it efficiently is the next logical step. As a beginner, here are some of the most common the Kentucky Derby mistakes you should avoid.
Not considering the jockey
Jockeys are just as important as the horses they ride, if not more important. Generally, having a jockey with a lot of experience in horse racing, especially in the Kentucky Derby, is a good thing. However, people tend to focus on the horse more because it’s usually the horse that takes the most credit for the win.
Furthermore, young and new jockeys often get too nervous with the bright lights and big crowd that the Kentucky Derby has. This will greatly affect their performance during the race, especially if their horse is just as nervous as them. In short, don’t just look at the horse but at the jockey as well.
Don’t ignore horse’s performance on different track surfaces
When it comes to the Kentucky Derby, horses that have prepared and trained in synthetic surfaces and have not yet done a transition to dirt tracks can be bad news. Why? Switching from synthetic to dirt can be hard for a horse to adjust to.
Some have done okay in the past, but there are times when a horse becomes too sluggish on the dirt after training on a synthetic surface for too long. This is not to say that you should not bet on a horse that has trained most of its life on synthetic materials. What I’m saying is that you should never forget this factor.
Don’t focus too much on the favorite
Respect the field more instead of focusing more on the favorite. Think about it. Twenty horses are competing to be number one, and each one of them has a factor in them that can win them the tournament. There are your horses that are faster in long stretches, horses that have been geared up for a dirt track all their life, etc.
Even though betting on the favorites is the most sensible thing to do, they are still 1 in 20 horses and don’t have any kind of advantage over the horses whatsoever. History can agree with that statement. If you look at the previous Kentucky Derby, there are only a handful of times where the favorites won first place. Yes, picking the favorite is a safe bet, but it’s not sure if you’re actually going to win a bet.
Don’t chase
This mistake is not limited to bettors in horse racing or Kentucky Derby in particular but in all sports betting forms. Always remember that there will always be a day in your betting career that is just not very fortunate for you. To control yourself to not chase steam, try to set a budget for each racing day and force yourself to only spend that amount. Thus, try visiting the TVG’s guide to be informed about the carryover and guaranteed pools.
Takeaway
In a few weeks, the 2021 Derby will be here, and there’s no better time than now to dip your hand into big game horse racing. Like any form of sports betting, you need to learn all you can before you go ahead, and bet come race day. As a beginner, you will be prone to mistakes, especially the ones above. But since you have taken to reading this article, you should now be aware of these mistakes and be wary of them during the tournament.
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