The Louisiana Derby is just a month away, and there’s no better time to brush up on your knowledge about the most effective horse racing strategies you can use at the event. It’s also a great time to practice since not long after the Louisiana Derby, the Triple Crown will follow, started by the Kentucky Derby.
The Louisiana Derby is a prep race for the Kentucky Derby for the horses, but it can also be a time of preparation for you. You can try out the strategies we will discuss at the Louisiana Derby and later use them at the Kentucky Derby, where there are higher stakes and higher potential profits. Let’s get started.
Focus on Outsiders
This may sound counterintuitive, but betting a lot on the favorites will make you lose more instead of winning more. This is because favorites only win 33% of their races, and while that’s already bad enough, the slim earnings you’ll get will only cover a small percentage of your losses backing favorites. On the other hand, betting outsiders offer far more profits than betting on favorites. How? Outsiders offer far better market odds and higher payouts.
However, not all outsiders are created equally, so here’s a tip. When looking at outsiders, make sure to only bet on the horses among the top three in the rankings. After that, pick runners with odds between 3 and 6 and find the underdog in that bunch. Sure, you might have a slightly lesser chance to win your bet, but when you do, your payout will be more significant than your potential winnings betting on the favorite.
Dutching Strategy
If you have some betting experience already, you might have heard of the dutching strategy before. It’s one of the most common and effective betting strategies not just on horse racing but on another plethora of sports betting as well. However, some people are scared off because of the mathematical complexity, but we can assure you that you can be a math whiz to use this strategy efficiently. So how does it work?
This strategy’s primary goal is to win and profit from one of the multiple outcomes the race will end up in. To do this, the bettor must bet on a different horse equally that has the potential to win or place nicely after the race. In this way, whichever bet wins will give you a nice and equal profit. It still relies on luck, but you can always make an educated bet on which horse to bet. It’s a nifty strategy if you want to keep your bankroll growing steadily.
Laying System
This is also a very popular strategy since it has proven effective and has a nice appeal, especially to those playing it safe. Lay betting, as some call it, refers to placing a wager against a runner.
To initiate this system, you have to pick three favorite horses of the race. After researching the top three contenders, you must pick the underdog of the bunch with odds between 3 and 6. It’s a pretty solid strategy since it boasts around an 80% win rate among bettors.
However, the rankings can sometimes be confusing, so you can only rely on it if the top three horses it’s showing are accurate. That said, it’s better to research the top three horses yourself and use this strategy.
Boxed Strategy
If you’re looking for a more straightforward and familiar strategy that you can use in the TVG Louisiana Derby, then look no further than boxing your bets. No, we don’t mean to throw hands but to make your exotic bets boxed. If you still need to get familiar with it, let’s start with what exotic bets are. Exotic bets are significantly harder to win due to their difficulty in prediction, but they have a more significant payout.
The most popular among them is the exacta. This exacta is betting two horses to finish first and second in that particular order. For example, let’s say you bet on horse #3 and #7 to win the first and second places, respectively; that is already a standard exacta bet. However, that sounds difficult, right? If you want to win slightly easier, you can box your exacta bet.
By boxing, we mean you can bet on the same horses to win first and second places, but not in that particular order. That means you can still win if horses # 3 and #7 switch places. You could also do this in other exotic bets like trifecta and superfecta. It’s a straightforward concept, but it yields great results since your chances of winning are increased, albeit with a slightly lower payout.
Final Words
So these are the strategies that you can use on the Louisiana Derby. They’re proven to be effective by many bettors already, hence their popularity in the books. However, most of the time, your wins will be decided by lady luck, but it never hurts to follow a strategy. With that said, best of luck to you.