Massachusetts horse racing bettors looking to place an online wager on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby might have a familiar choice.
FanDuel or DraftKings.
The two sports betting titans are also leaders in the horse racing betting space, which will enjoy its biggest day on the calendar with Saturday’s race from Churchill Downs. Indeed, FanDuel Racing and DK Horse are two of the leading options for Bay Staters hoping to make a Kentucky Derby wager.
Why FanDuel Racing might be the best Kentucky Derby MA bet
DraftKings and FanDuel quickly came to dominate the DFS landscape. Some gaming industry experts were surprised that they deftly outmaneuvered giant casino companies in gaining the largest market shares when the US sports betting landscape opened in 2018.
FanDuel in late March gained a significant advantage in Massachusetts when the state gaming commission gave its approval to allow its FanDuel TV horse racing app to be included in its “one-wallet” platform.
Another FanDuel advantage is that its horse racing app was born as TVG in 1999, with TVG gaining widespread national recognition over the years among horse racing bettors in numerous states.
The rebranding of TVG into FanDuel TV took place in the summer of 2022, so the “new” site already had a large built-in audience. Residents of not only Massachusetts but also Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and more than two dozen other states already had access to the TVG product before the name change.
About half of those states, like Massachusetts, feature the “one wallet” option with FanDuel TV.
FanDuel’s website lists what appear to be identical varieties of horse racing wagers.
The case for betting the Kentucky Derby on DK Horse
MA bettors may feel at home with DK Horse from Boston-based DraftKings. The app comes from a partnership reached in November with Churchill Downs, the owners of the historic Derby racetrack.
In late March, Massachusetts regulators gave the go-ahead to DraftKings to launch, becoming one of a dozen states to permit the app — the only such state in New England.
There is a twist, however — at least temporarily. DraftKings’ customers are used to the “one wallet” program that connects their funds to the company’s sportsbook and daily fantasy sports contests, in addition to customers used to DK online casino gaming.
But for now, DK Horse signups must deposit funds into this separate account to place wagers.
Gaming companies already see benefits from crossovers from sportsbook players who are enticed to try online casino or DFS. But horse racing could have particular appeal because of the global nature of the sport. An NBA or MLB bettor enjoying a banner day can press their luck further by trying a bet on a horse race in a faraway land.
That’s why integration of all of the gambling options is sure to happen for DraftKings and likely not too far down the road.
DK Horse has plenty of Kentucky Derby betting options
The DK Horse app features familiar options for horse players: win, place, and show straight bets, daily doubles, Pick 3 and Pick 4 contests, and exactas (first and second place), trifectas (first, second, and third) and even superfectas (requiring correctly choosing the top four horses for sometimes massive payouts).
A key feature is streaming video of races on the app and a betting guide on how to wager and a schedule of major upcoming races. As with most apps, there is no charge to download it for iPhone and Android users.
