Kentucky Derby Prop Betting – Time of the Race

BetOnline Sportsbook is offering countless Kentucky Derby betting props for the biggest race of the year on Saturday afternoon. One of the props to be considered is the length of time that it will take to run the "Fastest Two Minutes in Sports."

Kentucky Derby Prop Betting Odds

Time of the Race: Over 2:01.60 -260

Time of the Race: Under 2:01.60 +200

There are a couple of immediate factors that have to be taken into consideration when evaluating this prop.

The first is the condition of the track. The weather could be awful at Churchill Downs on Saturday afternoon, as weather forecasters are calling for potentially severe weather all throughout the day. Last year, the track was slow, but the race wasn’t actually ridden in a driving rain storm.

One look at the previous times of this race probably makes this prop all the more obvious which way to bet…

• 2009: Mine That Bird (2:02.66)
• 2008: Big Brown (2:01.82)
• 2007: Street Sense (2:02.17)
• 2006: Barbaro (2:01.36)
• 2005: Giacomo (2:02.75)
• 2004: Smarty Jones (2:04.06)

Many thought that Big Brown was the best horse that anyone had seen in racing outside of potentially super fillies Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra in the last decade. He romped to a huge victory at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Derby two years ago and pulled off a similar feat in the Preakness. However, even his time at 2:01.82 was over the lined 2:01.60.

The Kentucky Derby is almost always run with at least 2:01 on the clock. The only times in the L/25 years that it wasn’t were in 2001 when Monarchos nearly set a Triple Crown record by running the Derby in 1:59.97 and in 1985 when Spend A Buck crossed the finish line in 2:00.20.

The field this year is one that has been called very, very weak by horse racing pundits. Had Eskendereya run in this race, perhaps there would be a horse capable of running in the 2:01 range. However, in all likelihood, even if mother nature cooperates, this isn’t a race that is being run in less than 2:02.

The speed in 136th Kentucky Derby isn’t as fast as the speed normally is out of the blocks, but because there are so many horses that are going to try to get to the front of the field, horses that are normally stalkers may be inclined to try to run a little faster than perhaps they should.

The end result is going to lead to fast fractions at the start of the race and painfully slow ones at the end of it due to fatigue.

If the weather plays a role, this race is only going to get slower and slower. The last time that the Kentucky Derby was run in sloppy conditions was when Smarty Jones pushed that 2:04 on the board in 2004.

It’s going to take a truly Herculean effort from one of these horses to finish the Kentucky Derby in less than 2:01.60, and unfortunately for the sport, there just isn’t a colt in the field that could be classified as "Herculean."

My Kentucky Derby Betting Prediction: Time of the Race Over 2:01.60 -260 < < JOIN NOW> >