2024 Kentucky Derby Best Bets

2024 Kentucky Derby Betting Information

The first leg of the Triple Crown will take place on Saturday, May 4 when Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky hosts the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby. 

The total purse of the event is $5 million, up $2 million from last year, and is one of the most popular betting events on the sports calendar. Saturday's 1.25 mile race post time is 6:57 p.m. ET. 

Below, see my best bets, starting positions, trainers, jockeys and betting odds for each horse. 

2024 Kentucky Derby Best Bets

Fierceness is the favorite to win the Derby, but will have to make history to win, coming out of the No. 17 post position. With an 0-44 record, it’s the only gate in the entire 20-horse field to go winless. With that being said, I’m going to fade the favorite, even though he checks a lot of boxes in what you’re looking for in a horse at this event. Let’s explore my two favorite bets to win.

Forever Young To Win (10-1, +1000, FanDuel TVG)

Forever Young is looking to become the first horse from Japan and the first to come out of the UAE Derby to win at the Kentucky Derby.

He’s posted five consecutive victories heading into this event and while he isn’t regarded as a “deep closer”, he has among the best cruising speeds in the entire group. If he gets out to an early lead, he should have the stamina to hold off the competition at this length.

Ryusei Sakai has been Forever Young’s jockey in all of his wins and it’s difficult not to like a horse that literally has never lost. This is obviously his biggest test yet, but at 10/1, I love his odds.

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Just Steel (20-1, +2000 DraftKings)

Just Steel is the son of Triple Crown winner Justify, who won the Derby in 2018. He’s known as the most experienced horse in the field with seven races in his two-year-old season.

Trained by Hall of Famer and four-time Derby winner D. Wayne Lukas, Just Steel has four second-place finishes and two wins to his name and the 88-year-old Lukas thinks he has a great shot to contend. "He's got the type of stride and motion that I like and he's got pretty good speed for a big horse," Lukas told ABC 11 in Kentucky. "When it does get time to lay it down and we're gonna find out where the pretenders are in their contenders and so forth. He will probably show up."

A win in the 150th Kentucky Derby would be Lukas’ first Derby win in 25 years and I like these odds a lot for a horse with such a prestigious sire.

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