The sports betting world is filled with hundreds of matches, events, and competitions where bettors, from the most casual ones to the highest of rollers, can wager to their hearts content on different markets. However, gambling on races has some kind of unique and nostalgic feeling that no other sport is able to match. This is especially the case for horseracing, where thousands of players continue to bet on their favorite picks whenever the opportunity presents itself. Moreover, nowadays punters with original accounts in European bookmakers can wager with no restrictions on any race around the globe without having to leave home, and thanks to the advancement made on streaming technologies, races can be likewise enjoyed anywhere.

Another factor that influences the preference for wagering on horseracing is their easy-to-understand odds; they are simply based on how much of a favorite to win the race a competitor is and reflects how much money will be received for each unit risked. Winners are normally among the expected, giving small profits to bettors. However, on rare occasions, events like what happened in the last Kentucky Derby create the perfect opportunity for the well-informed players to make it big.

Understanding horseracing odds

As aforementioned, odds in horseracing are presented in a simple to understand format: how much the house is willing to pay you according to each currency unit you are willing to risk. This factor usually depends on both the horse and jockey conditions and records. Therefore, the favorite, otherwise known as top horses, pay less than underdogs, a term that comes from greyhound racing and it used for the less favorite to win.

Betting on top horses is sometimes profitable, even if they pay less because winners are usually among the favorites. Nevertheless, that’s not always the case. Punters must not forget that any horse in the race has virtually the same opportunities to come in first regardless of what the odds say. Also, considering that underdogs pay more when one wins, many wagers go to waste.

The Kentucky upsetting

The Kentucky Derby is the most prestigious horse race in the United States. Held each year during the first or second weekend of May, it has become a complete festival and attracts the attention of almost every horseracing enthusiast in the world. The 148^th edition celebrated this year witnessed a historic event that will stay in people’s memory for decades to come.

Favorites to win were Epicenter and Taiba, both with odds paying 5-1, followed by Messier (7-1) and Zandon (8-1). However, the roses went for Rich Strike, literally the least favorite horse mounted by a rather unknown Venezuelan-born jockey called Sunny Leon. In fact, with his ride as incredibly patient as bold, Leon made Rich Strike, which had an 80-1 mark, become the second-longest shot ever to win a Kentucky Derby, upsetting the betting tickets of way too many punters.

This historic event demonstrates that betting on favorites is not always the best approach. In fact, a good punter always takes into consideration the whole picture and knows how to balance reason with intuition and information with possibilities. If you want to be like those that took the opportunity to make great profits with Rich Strike’s win, open an original betting account via agent today and learn the ropes from the best in the industry.