Kentucky Derby 2022: Las Vegas disagrees about favorite

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Likebettors nationwide Friday, horseplayers in Nevada split their allegiancebetween their two top choices for Kentucky Derby 2022. Except in Las Vegas,they were not the same two horses as they were at Churchill Downs.

Aswith the rest of the country, bettors at Circa Sports made Epicenter theirfavorite. The Louisiana Derby (G2) winner actually carried a best price of 5-1in the pari-mutuel win pool compared with 9-2 at Circa. To split hairs, thedowntown Las Vegas racebook cut him from plus 475 to plus 460 on Friday. TheWestgate kept Epicenter at exactly 9-2 (plus 450), and Caesars Sportsbook atWilliam Hill Nevada held him at 7-2 (plus 350).

Thecontrast came with the second choice. In Las Vegas, Santa Anita Derby (G1)runner-up Messier held his ground with his best price of 7-1 at both Caesars atWilliam Hill and at the Westgate Superbook, and he was cut from plus 675 toplus 630, or about 6-1 at Circa. At Churchill Downs, Messier was 7-1 on Friday.

Taiba,the stablemate who beat Messier in the Santa Anita Derby, was a narrow secondchoice at 5-1 in the mutuel win pool, but he carried value in Las Vegas withodds of 8-1 at Circa and Caesars at William Hill and 6-1 at the Westgate.

Zandon,the morning-line favorite at the track, drifted to 8-1 there. While his oddswent up to 6-1 at Circa, they were cut to 3-1 to give him the shortest price atCaesars at William Hill. He remained 7-2 (plus 350) at the Westgate, which hasnot moved its odds since reopening its Derby pool after Monday’s draw.

TheWestgate did add a prop asking whether there would be a Triple Crown sweep thisspring. It made the “yes” odds 11-2 (plus 550) and the “no” 1-8 (minus 800).That compared with Caesars at William Hill’s 13-2 (plus 650) for “yes” and 1-10(minus 1,000) for “no.”

Thanks to an agreement last month between Churchill Downs Inc. and the cartel of Las Vegas-based racebooks, this is the first time in three years that Nevada bettors have had the full choice of Kentucky Derby pari-mutuels and the casinos’ fixed odds.