Winning bets at the Breeders’ Cup requires picking the right horses and having the right strategy. That’s no different than betting the horse races on any given day. But the winnings can be far greater at the Breeders’ Cup with many of the year’s largest betting pools, expanded field sizes with elite-level talent and global interest in the action. The event returns to Keeneland on Oct. 30 and 31 and you can watch and wager on all the action with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet.
The 14 Breeders’ Cup Championship races, 5 on Friday and 9 on Saturday, provided approximately $140 million in winning payouts to horseplayers last year. Consider that the average winning horse pays $11 for a $2 bet nationwide throughout the year. Breeders’ Cup winners since its 1984 inception have averaged $21, so it’s easy to see why horseplayers are clamoring for the event.
Matt Bernier, betting analyst for NBC Sports’ televised live coverage of the Breeders’ Cup, looks forward to the potential payouts. “The Breeders’ Cup is easily the best betting opportunity year in and year out,” he said. “There will be many instances in which horses who would be favored in any other race they’d run in will go off as the third or fourth most popular choice in the wagering, creating tremendous value everywhere you look.”
Beyond just the traditional win bet, the exotics wagering menu overflows the Breeders’ Cup. The exacta (top-2 finishers) payouts average $204 for a $2 bet all-time; trifectas (top-3 finishers) average $2,670 for a $2 bet; and superfectas (top-4 finishers) average a whopping $25,580 for a $2 bet. Multi-race bets also prove popular with bets like the daily double (2 consecutive races), pick 3 (3 consecutive races), pick 4 (4 consecutive races), pick 5 (5 consecutive races) and pick 6 (6 consecutive races). Three times in its history, the Breeders’ Cup pick 6 has literally made millionaires out of horseplayers – paying $2.68M in 2003, $1.45M in 2006 and $1.8M in 2009. The pick 6 has been the highest-paying BC bet of all-time with its Breeders' Cup record payouts.
“While all the multi-race wagers offer appeal,” Bernier said, “I prefer to focus on playing pick threes into horses I’m interested in who are likely to be 10-1 odds or higher; if I’m going to be correct, I want to make it count!”
Where might you find the best longshot races in the Breeders’ Cup? The Turf Sprint has seen 44% of its winners go off at odds of 10-1 or higher, the most-prolific price producer in the event’s history. And the Turf Sprint’s average $2 win payout of $29 is highest in any Breeders’ Cup division.
Horseplayers looking to play Breeders' Cup exacta bets should look no further than the online betting platforms at Xpressbet and 1/ST BET. There, an Exacta-Thon promotion on Breeders' Cup Friday and Saturday will put a shared $20,000 of additional money into the accounts of players who successfully hit winning exacta bits under the contest guidelines.
For more handicapping and betting insights, be sure to check out the 1/ST Breeders' Cup Wager Guide, updated daily with new stats, trends, replays, workouts, handicapper analyses and more. Visit https://news.1st.com/wager-guides/breeders-cup.
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