Kentucky Derby odds favor Justify and Mendelssohn at Churchill Downs this Saturday in Louisville.

Kentucky Derby odds racing lineKentucky Derby odds like Justify s chances of sprinting to a win this Saturday at Churchill Downs. (Image: Billy HC Kwok/Getty)

Justify, a three-year-old colt who was sold to a Chinese horseracing club in 2016 for $500,000, is the favorite as of Thursday at 3/1. Trained by Bob Baffert, whose horses have won four Kentucky Derbies, six Preakness Stakes, and two Belmont Stakes, Justify is an undefeated 3-0 and includes a Santa Anita Derby win to his resume.

Mendelssohn is at 5/1. The two-year-old colt won the UAE Derby in March in the United Arab Emirates by a staggering 18 lengths. Magnum Moon has the third-shortest at 6/1.

Audible and Bolt d Oro round out the top five to win the most exciting two minutes in sports at 8/1. Of the 21-horse field, 14 have odds 20/1 or longer as of Thursday.

No Triple Crown

Horse racing is a dying sport in America, as tracks have suspended racing and even shuttered across the nation. But for three days each year, the general public tunes in for the Triple Crown s three races, the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes.

Interest in the third and final leg decreases when the same horse doesn t The chances of a Triple Crown winner fuels enthusiasm, and that was evident in 2015 when American Pharoah became the first to win all three events in 37 years.

As for a potential Triple Crown winner this year, oddsmakers feel there s little hope. Online sportsbook Bovada sets the prop bet at 11/2, or implied odds of 15 percent. A $100 bet and a horse going on to become just the 13th Triple Crown winner would net $550.

Betting against a 2018 Triple Crown is a gamble with little reward. The 1/10 odds net just $10 for every $100 wagered.

Justify is the favorite should any horse win the Triple Crown at 17/2. Mendelssohn and Good Magic are next at 22/1.

Prop Bets

In addition to the standard parimutuel wagering options, bettors can take various propositions on the 2018 Kentucky Derby.

Bovada poses a line asking whether Secretariat s record time of 1:59:40 will be broken (Yes 11/1, No 1/50). The odds imply there s little to no chance a horse will cruise past the event s all-time mark.

Gamblers can also take bets on the winning time, with 5/6 odds on both over and under 2:02:65. Bovada does feel there s a decent chance the Kentucky Derby winner will go on to win the Preakness, with those odds at 6/4, or 40 percent.

Horse Betting Explained

The three most common wagers in horse racing are to win, place, and show.

Win: choose only one horse to win the race

Place: choose only one horse to win or place second

Show: choose only one horse to win, finish second, or third

More complicated bets include exactas and trifectas. In an exacta, gamblers must choose the winning and second-place horse in correct order. In a trifecta, the first three horses must be chosen in correct order.

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