Turf Writer Alicia Hughes’ Best Practices for Betting the Kentucky Derby 2023

The 149th renewal of The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports is this Saturday. One of the biggest draws to the Kentucky Derby has always been the ability to wager on the race.

In Michigan, horse betting has been a tradition for 90 years. With Northville Downs opening in the mid-1940′s and the legalization of pari-mutuel horse betting in 1933, there has always been accessible ways to bet on the nation’s biggest derbies.

Now, horse betting has become even simpler for Michiganders, as they live in one of 36 states where it’s legal to place sports bets online.

Gaming Today’s turf writer and content producer, Alicia Hughes, sat down with 9&10 sports reporter Kennedy Broadwell with some of her best tips when it comes to betting on this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Hughes Picks:

• Forte

“He’s done very little wrong in his career, he only has one loss, and I don’t see anything I have not seen anything that is going to dissuade you know him from his favoritism,” Hughes said of Forte.

• Tapit Trice

“You watch this horse physically and you will just fall in love with him. He has just this beautiful fluid stride. He gets over the racetrack it looks like he’s floating out there...no matter what kind of the track condition is, whether it’s a wet track or a dry track, you know, I think he’s going to handle it,” she said of Tapit Trice.

• Angel of Empire

“Coming off a very big win in the Arkansas Derby. He’s one who I feel like there’s a lot of potential upsides- where we’re still trying to figure out how good he is. You know, he’s definitely moved forward in his last two starts, but especially the way he won his last start, he pretty much won it just going away from his rivals, drawing off. His jockey didn’t look like he was urging him very much. So based on his pedigree, his bloodlines, it looks like the distance should be no problem,” Hughes noted of Angel of Empire.

If you’re looking to place a bet this coming weekend all of the legal betting sites and apps for the state of Michigan are listed here.

As always, it is not advised to bet with any offshore sportsbooks.