Record Online Betting Set For 2020 Kentucky Derby

The 2020 Kentucky Derby Leading Contenders Try To Chase Down Tiz the Law

The 2020 Kentucky Derby is Saturday, Sept. 5, and I’ve chipped in coverage from Forbes, TheLines, and Offshore Gaming Association with odds, horses, analysis and information you can bet on for America’s biggest horse race.

Record online betting is expected and leading online platforms at Twinspires and TVG reached out to me and provided added information you can bet on in some of my coverage at Forbes.

Check out all the coverage at sports betting news site TheLines where I chip in sports coverage including horse racing.

Kentucky Derby Betting Guide

How to bet the Kentucky Derby with odds and analysis on top contenders.

Tiz the Law is 3/5 morning line favorite – the lowest Derby odds in more than 30 years.

Forbes – Kentucky Derby schedule, odds and information you can bet on from Twinspires.

Forbes – Kentucky Derby coverage and early odds and information you can bet on from TVG.

ForbesPicks from the pros with insight and analysis on 2020 Kentucky Derby.

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/5zceL/1/

 

I won’t be betting Tiz the Law to win, but I’ll be including him in Exacta and Trifecta wagers with Honor A. P. Money Moves, Max Player and South Bend looking for a bigger score. Keying on a winner or two on top and adding more horses underneath like Ny Traffic and Attachment rate in your trifecta or Superfecta bets can lead to a big score with less risk like 2017 – I hit the exacta multiple times with favorite Always Dreaming on top and two big longshots finishing second and third. It paid $336. A story to tell sometime on how I missed the trifecta…A $40 ticket with the winner on top, 9 horses in second and 10 in third, which paid more than $4,000 on a .50 cent trifecta.

  • Tiz the Law prepping at Churchill Downs for the 2020 Kentucky Derby. Photo Credit: Associated Press

    Tiz the Law: Has won 6-for-7 races including 4-for-4 this year with recent Grade 1 wins in the 1 1/8 mile Belmont Stakes and 1 1/4 mile Travers. Tiz the Law posted Equibase speed figures of 113 and 116 in those two races, which is best of the Derby runners. His best ESF was 117 in the Grade 3 Holy Bull in February. Tiz the Law’s second half and closing race speed in winning the Travers at the same 1 1/4 mile Derby distance ranks among the very best speeds in a final prep in the last 25 years. Jockey Manny Franco rides in his third Kentucky Derby and is the youngest rider in the race at age 25.

  • Honor A. P.: The colt is fresh off a career-best 106 speed figure a month ago in a short field of four and a runner-up finish behind Thousand Words in the 1 1/16 mile Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar. Honor A. P. was a beaten 1/5 favorite that day but it was more of a get ready for the Derby race than a best effort. The race prior in June, Honor A. P. won the 1 1/8 mile Santa Anita Derby by tracking a swift pace and putting away the 1/2 favorite Authentic by nearly 3-lengths. Jockey Mike Smith, 55, rides in his 26th Kentucky Derby and last won aboard Justify – the Triple Crown winner in 2018.
  • Authentic: A 3-time graded stakes winner and 4-for-5 overall, Authentic’s only defeat was a runner-up finish to Honor A. P. in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby. His 109 ESF in that race was his second best behind a 113 speed figure in a wire-to-wire win in the 1 1/16 mile San Felipe in March – well in front of Honor A. P., Storm the Court and Thousand Words. Authentic won his last race wire-to-wire by a nose over Ny Traffic in the 1 1/8 mile Haskell, but his closing three-eighths mile time was outside of 38 seconds. Mike Smith chose to ride Honor A. P. leaving John Velazquez available to ride Authentic.

The next wave of contenders includes:

  • Max Player: He’s finished in-the-money in all five starts with a pair of wins. Improved in recent two races despite finishing a well-beaten third behind Tiz the Law in both the Travers and Belmont Stakes while posting a 105 ESF in each race. Trainer change from Linda Rice to Steve Asmussen in preparing for the Kentucky Derby and training very well leading into the biggest race.
  • Thousand Words: He has yet to win racing longer than 1 1/16 miles but Thousand Words has won four times, including twice in his 3-year-old campaign with both victories sporting a 107 speed figure. His win in the Shared Belief Stakes was just in front of a hard-closing Honor A. P.
  • Money Moves: A wild card and late-developing colt who is a late entry to the Derby field thanks to some Derby qualifiers falling out. Money Moves sold for nearly $1 million last year – the second highest-priced horse in the field behind Thousand Oaks. The Derby will be the first stakes race for Money Moves, and he’s won 2-of-3 and was a close runner-up last race with a 109 speed figure against older horses going 1 1/8 miles off a four month layoff. A son of Candy Ride, Money Moves is a raw talent and can move forward even jumping up sharply in class. Trainer Todd Pletcher is a two-time Derby winner. Could Money Moves be like the great Arrogate, who broke on the racing scene by winning his stakes debut in the 2016 Travers in track record time?
  • South Bend: Overlooked and long Derby odds following a distant fourth place finish last month in the 1 1/4 mile Travers Stakes behind winner Tiz the Law and Max Player (3rd). But his speed improved in each of his recent races topping at a 102 speed figure. No wins in eight tries in 2020, but improvement and form matter, and if the pace of the race is a bit too fast, this deep closer and Bill Mott-trained colt could surprise like Mott’s Country House in last year’s Derby.
  • Ny Traffic: Three straight runner-up finishes plus a third place showing this year with all four graded stakes races. His best EFS was 109 when running his best race and losing by a nose to Authentic in the Haskell. Ny Traffic will be one of many pace pressers and he’ll need to balance his energy to hold up down the long stretch.
  • Attachment Rate: Just one win in eight starts with some troubled trips, but improving and finished a distant runner-up to Art Collector last race and well in front of Necker Island in the Ellis Park Derby. His 99 ESF in that race was a career best.
  • Enforceable: A deep closer but would need a complete pace collapse and maybe even a few horses to stumble and slide to have an impact. He’s run in six straight graded stakes races with one win back in January that involved a career-best 97 speed figure.

The biggest days at the races are the weekends, where the top tracks in America host the biggest stakes races. The Triple Crown races draw tremendous interest from fans, media and horse handicappers and bettors. From the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs to the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park, there is plenty of additional horse racing that draws interest. The daily race schedule and leading tracks are covered each day at TheLines, with the weekend racing guide posted on these pages with some of the biggest races from the country’s top tracks.

That includes the Breeders’ Cup in November, where the best races horses in the world compete for million dollar or more purses as jockeys, trainers and owners guide them to racing riches. The Sport of Kings becomes a world spectacle at the Breeders’ Cup, and also at the Kentucky Derby which unfortunately will be without fans in the stands this year due to the coronavirus health crisis and pandemic.

Check back for more coverage as I chip in added racing picks at numberFire with racing contacts adding to the coverage to better inform and educate fans and bettors.

Churchill Downs Picks and Analysis at numberFire (Friday, Sept. 4).

Del Mar Picks and Analysis at numberFire (Friday, Sept. 4).

Churchill Downs Picks and Analysis at numberFire (Sat., Sept. 5) – including the Kentucky Derby.

Del Mar Picks and Analysis at numberFire (Sat., Sept. 5).

Saratoga Picks and Analysis at numberFire (Sun., Sept. 6).

Del Mar Picks and Analysis at numberFire (Sun., Sept. 6).

 

Author: FairwayJay is a leading national sports betting analyst, writer, handicapper and sports betting insider providing insight and information you can bet on for nearly two decades from Las Vegas. He chips in additional sports betting coverage and reporting on industry news and events for leading media and sports betting sites and companies. Follow him on X (Twitter): @FairwayJay