The Keeneland racetrack is located in Lexington, Kentucky. Their spring meet is held from April 8 – 29. Keeneland is known for having competitive thoroughbred horse races with the best jockeys and trainers. Because of the big fields and the large purses, horse betters look forward to a challenge which can lead to big payouts. My own experience as an amateur horse bettor did not go very well at Keeneland this year.
There is something about the entries at Keeneland that makes the usual handicapping information ineffective. Favorites typically don’t do well and are often beaten by a horse that you would never expect to win. I placed 2 pick 4’s, 4 pick 3’s, 2 daily doubles, 3 superfectas, 9 trifectas, 3 exactas, and 14-win bets. Out of all those wagers, I only won $15.80 on one win bet. That should give you some idea of how hard it is to handicap Keeneland.
I wagered about $143 total over 3 weekends in April at Keeneland. Had I known how difficult it was going to be, I would have passed on Keeneland and used that money at Gulfstream, Santa Anita or Oaklawn. The fact that most of my wagers were win bets shows that I gave up on vertical and horizontal wagers. The closest I came was 2 out of 4 on one of my pick 4’s and 2 out of 3 on two of my pick 3’s. Trifectas were a disaster with most yielding only 1 out of 3 legs being correct.
I’m taking a break until the Kentucky Derby on May 6th and 7th, which is two weeks away. It looks like there will be a lot of good horses in the derby this year. I usually wait until they have assigned the starting positions before I start handicapping the race. One of my favorite wagers is the Oaks/Derby double. The Oaks is held on May 6th and the Derby is on May 7th, so the wager spans two days. If you are looking for Kentucky Derby expert picks, click HERE. Or use my affiliate link to open a TVG account.