I am getting ready to head to Delaware Park for a day at the races. The sole purpose of the journey is
to place a bet on the Kentucky Derby. I usually make this trip every year so this year will be no different
even though I'm not really impressed with the field. Big Brown is the favorite so I'll be sure to add him in
my exacta box but there are other horses I like better. My exacta box is looking like this:

#4...Court Vision @ 20-1
#10...Colonel John @ 4-1
#14...Monba @ 15-1
#20...Big Brown @ 3-1

Of course these are opening odds and my picks are subject to change, we'll see how it goes.  ;D

I take it the exacta bet is picking the top 4 horses in order?

Ant

I take it the exacta bet is picking the top 4 horses in order?

Ant


An exacta bet is picking the first 2 finishers, win and place. An exacta box is betting the horses in any order.
By boxing, if any of the 4 horses I pick finish first or second I win. It cost a little more but I don't have to worry
about order. It sucks if you pick a 4-2 exacta and the race ends up 2-4 and you didn't box it.

You can bet a dollar or 2 dollar exacta. A one dollar bet pays half the shown price for the exacta. I always play
a two dollar exacta box to ensure a full payout on a win. If you box the exacta it is an additional 2 dollars per
bet. example:

A two horse exacta is $2.00, it cost $4.00 to box it. A three hose bet is $6.00 or a $12.00 box and so on.
I usually play a three horse box but because the favorite isn't one of my choices I'll add it for insurance. This
box will cost $24.00 because there are 12 ways to win.

Typical race bets:

Win...1st
Place...2nd
Show...3rd
Exacta..1st and 2nd
Trifecta...1st, 2nd and 3rd
Superfecta...1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th
Daily Double...1st place in two consecutive races
Daily Triple...1st place in three consecutive races

There are others but it can get complicated. you can also wheel a horse, pick a horse to win and pick every other
horse in the field to place second. the price for this depends on the number of horses in the race and you can also box
the wheel as well, I think this is a sucker bet though.

This is the first time in several years where I've not been at Churchill Downs to watch the Kentucky Derby in person. I watched the race at my father's home here in Kentucky and we were all amazed at how Big Brown came out of the 20th position to win the race. It was tempered, of course, with Eight Belles, who came in second place after such a valiant effort, only to have to be put down just moments after crossing the finish line. Brings back such sad memories of Barbaro, who broke his leg at the Preakness after winning the Kentucky Derby. Growing up on a horse farm, I've unfortunately seen horses have to be euthanized due to catastrophic injuries, but it never gets easy to witness...

What happened?  I didn't know that just because a horse breaks a leg, they have to be put down :(  That sucks.

Unfortunately, Eight Belles broke both of her front ankles, which is a catastrophic injury from which a horse cannot recover, due to their enormous weight. Even with one broken leg, the odds are not good for a horse, due to a condition known as laminitis, which is usually fatal and will eventually kill the horse (such as Barbaro a few years ago)... :(

I just got in. It is a real shame that Eight Belles had to be put down. This is one of the dangers and such
a tragedy of horse racing.

Needless to say I didn't win the Derby but my wife did. She hit a $141.60 exacta then she went to the casino
and did rather well there too. I hit a few races proir to the Derby and a couple after so I didn't come home a
loser, I'm ahead a whopping $23.40. I had a good time all the same.