With all the hoopla over 2020 Presidential election, you probably lost sight of what’s really important: horse racing.
And particularly the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
After a tumultuous year that saw significant delays and the Triple Crown races run out of order, things are back on track to normalcy.
The Breeders’ Cup – the most prestigious American Thoroughbred event after the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes – is being run this weekend at the Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, KY, taking place in early November as usual.
While races will be run on both Friday and Saturday, the main event – the Breeders’ Cup Classic – will be held last, with a start time of 5:13 PM EST on Saturday evening (NBC).
Interestingly, the horse favored to win – Improbable – put together quite the resume under legendary trainer Bob Baffert without actually competing in any of the 2020 Triple Crown events.
Meanwhile, Belmont winner Tiz The Law is trending in second on the odds boards, while Derby winner Authentic is sitting in fourth.
Third-place money is coming in on the much-maligned Maximum Security, who was last year’s Triple Crown favorite before his DQ at the Derby and the scandal surround his win at the Saudi Cup.
If you’re in the mood to take a slight underdog, Maximum Security offers a very attractive payout.
Swiss Skydiver, the filly that won the 2020 Preakness Stakes, is not racing in the Classic. Instead, she will be competing in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff earlier on Saturday afternoon.
The following are the current odds for the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Gate positions are included in parentheses.
2020 Breeders’ Cup Classic Betting Odds
- Improbable +275 (8)
- Tiz The Law +350 (2)
- Maximum Security +450 (10)
- Tom’s D’Etat +500 (4)
- Authentic +550 (9)
- By My Standards +2000 (3)
- Global Campaign +2500 (7)
- Tacitus +2800 (1)
- Higher Power +4000 (6)
- Title Ready +5500 (5)
BetOnline Racebook:
- Improbable +300 (8)
- Tiz The Law +300 (2)
- Maximum Security +425 (10)
- Authentic +550 (9)
- Tom’s D’Etat +600 (4)
- By My Standards +1800 (3)
- Global Campaign +2200 (7)
- Tacitus +2200 (1)
- Higher Power +5000 (6)
- Title Ready +10000 (5)
MyBookie Racebook:
- Improbable +250 (8)
- Tiz The Law +275 (2)
- Maximum Security +400 (10)
- Authentic +550 (9)
- Tom’s D’Etat +700 (4)
- By My Standards +2500 (3)
- Global Campaign +2500 (7)
- Higher Power +3300 (6)
- Tacitus +3300 (1)
- Title Ready +4000 (5)
Each of the above racebooks – but particularly Bovada – has a host of betting options related to the Breeders’ Cup Classic and the 11 other races being held at Keeneland this weekend.
In addition, you can also wager on all kinds of props, including head-to-head matchups between all the horses in the various races on offer.
And, of course, you’ll have access to the typical straights and exotics, including WPS (Win, Place, Show) bets, exactas, trifectas, superfectas, Pick 5s, Pick 6es, and more.
However, there is one thing to be aware of when placing wagers online with a legal horse racing betting site: These odds are house-banked, not pari-mutuel in nature.
And that is a major benefit to your bottom line.
House-banked odds, like those you’d find for any typical sport, are locked in the moment you place your wagers. The odds can move as the events near, but whatever those odds were when you placed your bet, those are the odds you get.
In other words, you know exactly how much you stand to win.
With pari-mutuel or pool-based betting of the type you’ll find at US racetracks and OTBs (off-track betting venues), you won’t know what your payout will be until all bets are in and all betting is closed.
That’s because with this system of betting, your payouts are based on how much money there is in the total pool of bets for the same wager.
Let’s say you put $10 on a horse with 5/1 odds (+500) several days out from the race. Whatever those odds are once betting closes is what you’ll earn should your pony win.
Thus, if more people pick your horse down the homestretch, those odds can drop precipitously, and you might end up with 2/1 odds. Now, what would have been a $50 payout is capped at $20.
With online house-banked horse betting, that payout stays at $50 no matter what.
This is a massive and unheralded perk of betting in the traditional manner as opposed to pari-mutuel betting, but many online horseplayers don’t realize how much better their offshore options actually are in this market.
Nevertheless, wherever you bet, the main thing is to actually bet.
Horse racing lives or dies based on gambling participation, and the only way to ensure that the Sport of Kings is here for the long haul is to get in on the action.
If you’ve never bet on a horse race before, there’s no better time to legally place your very first horse bets on the 2020 Breeders’ Cup classic.
The field may only be 10 horses deep, but it is absolutely stacked, and with $6 million on the line, you better believe these ponies are prepared.
Are you?
