Summer of Nostalgia: That time when horse racing was a sure bet at Marshfield Fair. In 1934, the the state Legislature legalized horse racing and betting. In 1991, horse racing at the. When is the Kentucky Derby? Currently scheduled to take place on Saturday 1 May 2021, the Kentucky Derby is America's biggest horse race. Our Kentucky Derby page features all the latest news about the 2021 race including the Prep Race schedule, Results, Road to Kentucky Derby Points Tables, Prep Race Previews and Picks and in-depth Guides to the biggest single day betting event in the USA.
Betting on a horse race for the first time — even the first few times — can be an intimidating endeavor. What are all of these options? Here’s all the lingo you need to know before you place your first bet:
The Basics
Winbet – A bet on a horse to finish first.
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Place bet – A bet on a horse to finish first or second.
Show bet – A bet on a horse to finish in the money; third or better.
In the money – A horse that finishes first, second, or third.
Across the board – A bet on a horse to win, place, and show. If the horse wins, the bettor collects three ways; if second, two ways (place, show); and if third, one way, losing the win and place bets. It’s actually three bets.
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Morning line – The odds that the track handicapper predicts a horse will go off at.
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Exotic (bet) – Any bet other than win, place, or show that requires multiple combinations. Examples of exotic wagers are exacta, trifecta, Pick 6, Pick 4.
Daily Double (or Double) – Type of bet calling for the selection of winners of two consecutive races.
Exacta – A wager in which the first two finishers in a race, in exact order of finish, must be picked.
Box – A betting term denoting a combination bet whereby all possible numeric combinations are covered for certain horses.
Exacta box – A wager in which all possible combinations using a given number of horses are selected. For example, an exacta box using horses 2,4,6 would produce a winning ticket if any two of those three horses finished first and second, regardless of the order (2-6, 4-2, 6-4, etc.).
Trifecta – A bet in which the first three finishers must be selected in exact order.
Trifecta box – A trifecta wager in which all possible combinations using a given number of horses are bet upon.
Pick (6 or other number) – A type of multi-race bet in which the winners of all the included races must be selected. Pick 3, Pick 4, Pick 5, Pick 6 are commonly used by tracks in the United States.
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Bounce – A racehorse’s especially poor performance on the heels of an especially good one.
Chalk – Betting favorite in a race.
Chalk player – Gambler who wagers on favorites.
Key horse – A single horse used in multiple combinations in an exotic bet.
On the board – Finishing among the first three.
On the nose – Betting a horse to win only.
Overlay – A horse whose odds are greater than its potential to win. Professional bettors target overlays, meaning they target bets that offer better than fair value odds.
Underlay – A horse whose odds are less than than his potential to win. Betting horses whose odds are worse than fair value is a poor strategy.
Parlay – A multi-race bet in which all winnings are subsequently wagered on a succeeding race.
Speed Figure – A metric that rates a horse’s performance in a race, which is determined by a combination of the horse’s performance and the level of competition he/she competed against.
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Wheel – Betting all possible combinations in an exotic wager using at least one horse as the key.