Sportsbook Betting 134th Kentucky Derby Sportsbook.com

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Horses: Derby Favorites

The 134th running of the Kentucky Derby is this Saturday and it’s as wide open as any in recent memory.

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The current favorite is Big Brown at 3:2 odds and his trainer, Richard Dutrow Jr is extremely confident heading into the race.

"I have not seen a horse with my own eyes who will beat him,” Dutrow Jr said. “I'm not concerned about any other horse, just ours. If he breaks clean, he'll do the job."

That’s a lot of bravado for a horse that’s run only three races after having foot problems. The good news for Big Brown backers is that he won all three of those races by a combined 29 lengths, and he’s completely healthy heading into this race.

The next horse on the odds board is Colonel John (9:2). The knock on him is he’s strictly a synthetic-track horse as it’s the only surface on which he’s raced in six career starts (four wins and two second places).

How he’ll handle the dirt of Churchill Downs is a question to be answered this Saturday, but professional handicapper Bob Ike, for one, isn’t worried.

“I don't think it's an issue,” Ike said. “There doesn't seem to be a problem for many horses going from synthetic to dirt. I'd be much more concerned if they were going from dirt prep races to a synthetic track at Churchill Downs.”

Rounding out the ‘Big Three’ of favorites is Pyro at 5:1 odds. Pyro is the former favorite whose stock fell after finishing 10th at the April 12th Blue Grass Stakes. However, that was on a synthetic surface and Pyro does have two easy wins this year on dirt in the Risen Star Stakes and Louisiana Derby.

Since 1957, no horse has come back to win the Derby after finishing worse than 4th in his prior start, but trainer Steve Asmussen is confident that the Blue Grass Stakes will be not be an indicator of Pyro’s performance at the Derby.

“Watching the Blue Grass, I knew Pyro wasn't going to run well early in the race, but then he wasn't responsive to the jockey's urging. But he came out of the race well and didn't go into a shell. One thing's for sure: He's not likely to run on a synthetic surface again."

Don’t forget that there are plenty of underdogs just begging for a big payout on a small investment.

Gayego (9:1), Court Vision (10:1), Denis of Cork (12:1), Monba (15:1) and even Cowboy Cal (20:1) are getting a lot of backing from prognosticators and they represent great value for their respective odds.