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Triple Crown Race Betting
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Triple Crown betting is available all year leading up to the final race of the three-race series. The Triple Crown consists of the Kentucky Derby on the first Saturday in May, the Preakness Stakes two weeks later, and the Belmont Stakes three weeks after that.
The odds for whether or not there will be a Triple Crown winner in 2026 have been released. The odds are subject to change, so keep checking back with us.
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Triple Crown Lineup
The greatest event in horse racing is the Triple Crown. The three races each began in the 1800s and have evolved into one of the most difficult feats in all of the sports.
The series starts with the Kentucky Derby, a 1 1/4-mile race for three-year-olds worth $3 million, which takes place on the first Saturday in May. It is run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The winner gets a garland of roses draped over their back and their name enshrined in racing lore.
Two weeks later is the Preakness Stakes, run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, over 1 3/16 miles. The $1.5 million race is often a battle between horses that just raced in Kentucky and those that skipped the Run for the Roses and are racing fresh off the bench.
Three weeks later the Triple Crown concludes with the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York. The race is run around the 1 1/2-mile oval at Belmont Park and is the most grueling of the Triple Crown races.
Betting the Kentucky Derby
If you can’t make it to the racetrack to watch one of the Triple Crown races live, then heading to an online racebook such as our bookies is the next best way to bet on the Triple Crown. Take time to compare the different types of promotions that NG racebooks offer before signing up, as some have deposit bonuses and wagering rebates that help raise the odds of winning. Other sites offer cashback options.
Nearly $150 million is wagered on the Kentucky Derby every year. Betting on the Kentucky Derby is tricky because the race usually has 20 horses in the starting gate, with big payouts and longshot winners a regular occurrence.
Longshots winners in the Kentucky Derby include Country House at 65-1 in 2025, Animal Kingdom at 20 – 1 in 2023, and both Mine That Bird and Giacomo at 50 – 1 in 2009 and 2005. 52 of 145 Kentucky Derbies have been won by the favorite. Not a single favorite won the race from 1979 until 2000, then 10 favorites scored from 2001 until 2025. Before the current Road to the Kentucky Derby points system was created by Churchill Downs in 2012, longshots won often, but since the change, there has only been one winner that wasn’t the post time wagering favorite.
Betting the Preakness Stakes
Favorites have won about half of all Preakness Stakes since the race began, making them tough to bet against on race day. Betting on the Preakness Stakes in Nigerian bookmakers can be complicated because the Kentucky Derby winner usually goes favored even if they were a longshot in Kentucky. When the Kentucky Derby winner is injured or doesn’t make the race, the Preakness favorite is often the horse that finished best in the Kentucky Derby aside from the winner.
The biggest Preakness upset of all time was Master Derby in 1975 at 23 – 1, which is quite low compared to the odds of some Kentucky Derby winners.
Handicapping the Preakness Stakes is especially difficult because a lot of handicappers don’t pay regular attention to Pimlico Race Course, where the Preakness is held. It only runs for a few weeks per year, and opens just days before the race. It is often rainy, which can change the favorites leading into the race.
Triple Crown Odds
The odds for the Triple Crown depend on if a horse is going to try to sweep the historic races or not. The horse that has a shot at the Triple Crown is always favored in the Belmont Stakes. A horse going for the Triple Crown rarely wins – 23 horses have won the Derby and Preakness, but not the Belmont, while only 13 horses have completed the Triple.
Da’ Tara was 38-1 when he defeated Triple Crown prospect Big Brown in the 2008 Belmont Stakes. Birdstone was 36-1 over Smarty Jones in 2004. 2-1 Empire Maker was appropriately backed when defeating even-money choice Funny Cide in 2003. Most shockingly, Sarava was 70-1 when he defeated War Emblem in his bid for the Triple Crown. Even Charismatic, who was 33-1 when he won the Kentucky Derby and 8-1 when he won the Preakness, went favored in the Belmont but finished third behind 29-1 shot Lemon Drop Kid.
Betting the Belmont Stakes
The Belmont Stakes is a race often won by a longshot. None of the horses in the race have ever gone over 1 1/2 miles before, and most never will again. Betting on the Belmont Stakes needs to be done with attention to pedigree and how a horse has handled the 1 1/4 mile distance of the Kentucky Derby if they took that route to the race.
Sarava is the biggest longshot winner in Belmont Stakes history, scoring at 70-1 in 2002. Sherluck was 65-1 in 1961, and Temperence Hill was 53-1 in 1980. Da’ Tara was 38-1 when upsetting Big Brown in his 2008 Triple Crown bid; Birdstone was 36-1 in 2004 over Smarty Jones. More recently there have been a string of longshots, with Lemon Drop Kid winning at 29-1 in 1999, Ruler on Ice 24-1 in 2011, Commendable 18-1 in 2000, and Creator 15-1 in 2016.
Favorites are hard to come by; even Tonalist in 2014 was 9-1 coming off a win in Belmont Park’s biggest Belmont Stakes prep race, the Peter Pan Stakes.
He was facing Triple Crown hopeful California Chrome, who finished fourth. Tapwrit was 5-1 in a strange field in 2017, where the Kentucky Derby winner (Always Dreaming) and Preakness Stakes winner (Cloud Computing) both missed the race. Summer Bird was 11-1 in 2009 while Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird finished third as the favorite, and Drosselmeyer was 13-1 in 2010 after losing his Belmont Stakes prep race over the track in the Dwyer Stakes.