Get Your Kentucky Derby Zen On

Bloggers/tweets like me, enamoured with Thoroughbred racing, really can't get enough of it and don't mind writing about it almost non-stop, look for many avenues for our passion. That is we blog where we can and when we can. For me, this means tossing it down right here where you're reading, cross pollinating at Horse Racing Nation for a weekly blog tied into Derby Wars tournaments, contributing to the best Kentucky Derby contender list at WirePlayers.com and being a member of Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance.

With all that contributing, allow me if you will, the opportunity to start you off with my latest endeavor at Horse Racing Nation: Finding Your Kentucky Derby Zen. Each week leading up to the Run for the Roses, I will present a topic for consideration and offer up a moment or two of Zen to go along with it. This will not be a hardcore, systemic approach, but instead a more organic way of developing a winning Kentucky Derby wager. The lead in follows, and I invite you to come back each week for the latest installment. Now excuse me, while I unfold myself from the Lotus position...

The Kentucky Derby is a unique betting experience, even in the world of Thoroughbred racing. This single race - a slice of Americana itself - receives approximately $80 million in bets. This multimillion dollar pool dwarfs just about every other race in the world in terms of money bet, and the handle for some entire meets.  

In a pari-mutuel pool - democratic as they are in nature - everyone who lays down a bet contributes to the odds on those running in the race. On a daily basis these pools present opportunities for astute gamblers that dare go against the masses and the top choice/odds on horses. Example: Finding a well-bred, conservatively campaigned horse at 20-1, while taking a pass on shorter prices last Derby Day certainly paid well enough. Animal Kingdom not only returned a hefty $43.80 for each $2 win mutuel, he keyed a $48,000 plus superfecta and a nearly $5,000 Pick 3. 

 To read the rest of this blog click over to Horse Racing Nation...