2008 Kentucky Derby: Opening odds and top contenders

2008 Kentucky Derby: Opening odds and top contenders A little over two weeks left until the start of the most popular horse racing event in the world - the 2008 Kentucky Derby, first leg of the Triple Crown. And preparations for the 2008 Kentucky Derby are underway not only for the organizers and participants at the Churchill Downs race, but by odds makers and punters, as well. As many of you already know, the opening odds on the sports events offer the best value for the lucky bettor, for example, the Masters winner held odds of 80/1 to win, before the start of the competition, the 2008 Kentucky Derby isn't much different, with some colts offering payouts on 100/1 odds. And considering the disappointing performance of some of the Kentucky Derby favorites during the pre-derby races, 2008 seems to offer the best in terms of odds on the prestigious horse race.

As usual we will monitor the odds and bring you the latest developments surrounding the 2008 Kentucky Derby, making OGPaper the one-stop-shop for all your Triple Crown needs, including a dedicated column on our front page, making it easy to track the Kentucky Derby news. But enough talk, lets get down to business and see what's going on with the betting sheets and the top three Derby contenders this year.

There are three colts shooting for the favorite spot on the odds makers columns this year - Big Brown, Pyro and Colonel John. But for us, the biggest surprise comes not from seeing these contenders at the top, but seeing the big difference between the U.K. oriented online bookmakers and their North American counterparts. The British licensed online bookmaker Bet365 (official website) offers the following odds on the three top Kentucky Derby contenders - Big Brown is listed as the ultimate favorite with odds 5/2, while Pyro and Colonel John are sharing odds 5/1 to win the 2008 Kentucky Derby. But on the other side of the pound, the online sportsbook BodogSports is offering the best deal in odds - here Big Brown is also the favorite but at 3/1, while Colonel John is paying on 6/1 odds and Pyro comes third with the whopping odds of 8/1, clearly the best value around. We will take in depth look into these three Kentucky Derby contenders, as well as a few other colts in our upcoming articles.

Here are a few other top choices for your 2008 Kentucky Derby betting sheets, as published at the online bookmaker BodogSports. War Pass comes fourth with odds 10/1, followed by Monba listed with odds 16/1 to win the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Adriano, Court Vision, Gayego and Recapturetheglory share 20/1 odds to win the horse race, while on the other side of the spectrum we find Yankee Bravo, Giant Moon, Check It Twice and Blackberry Road as the underdogs with odds 100/1. Visit the bookie for the full list of betting odds on the 2008 Kentucky Derby. The start of the race is on Saturday, May 3rd, at the Churchill Downs Racecourse. Stay with us for full coverage of the 2008 Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown chase.

Published on 04/15/2008