ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — When it comes to horse racing, everybody has their own strategy for picking a winner. The Kentucky Derby is a lot more fun when you've got some action riding on it, so 10News went to Tampa Bay Downs to get a little expert advice.
“In a race the Kentucky Derby, the last few years, you want a horse who’s going to be in the race early,” said Tampa Bay Downs Racing Analyst Andrew “Shades” Demsky. “There’s a lot of ways you can bet it. I always say, stay simple in a race like the derby.”
If supporting the locals is your thing, there are three horses in the race this year who have raced in Tampa: Spinoff, Win Win Win and Tacitus, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby.
"He's still not going to be the favorite, which is great because I get some value on a Tampa Bay Derby winner in Tacitus,” added Demsky, who also likes Win Win Win in the Kentucky Derby this year.
But if you’re here in Florida and you want to bet on the derby, you don't have to place it at a horse track. Derby Lane greyhound racing on Gandy takes bets on the derby as well.
"It's our busiest day of the year so it's a lot of fun,” said Derby Lane Marketing, Web, Social Media Coordinator Alexis Winning. "A lot of people come in just to place bets on the derby and then go home, go to their derby parties, Cinco de Derby, right? But, most importantly, they get their bets in here and then they can come cash their ticket whenever, they have a year to do it."
Winning says Derby Lane will continue to take off-track bets even after it ends greyhound racing on December 31st of 2020. Greyhound racing in Florida was banned in a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2018.
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