Exacta bets are popular among new and longtime horse racing enthusiasts who want to wager on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
With an exacta bet, you need to pick the horses that finish first and second in the exact order.
What Did the Kentucky Derby Exacta Pay Out Last Year?
Let’s take a look at last year’s winning exacta in the Kentucky Derby to show how exacta betting works.
No. 18 Sovereignty won the race, and No. 8 Journalism finished second. The winning exacta of 18-8 paid $48.32 on a $2 bet.
Sovereignty went off at odds of 9-1 to win the race, with Journalism as the betting favorite at 7-2.
Related: 2026 Kentucky Derby Betting Guide | What is a Superfecta Bet?
Different Types of Exacta Bets
Here, we examine different types of exacta bets.
Exacta Straight Bet
This is the easiest way to make an exacta bet. You can select two horses to finish first and second, respectively, and in that order. Using the example above, you would have said, “$2 exacta on 18 and 8” at the betting window.
Exacta Box
You can also “box” your exacta bet. To keep it simple, we’ll use the same two horses in our example. A $2 exacta box on 18 and 8 means they can finish in either order: 18-8 or 8-18.
A $2 boxed exacta will cost you $4 to ensure you have both winning combinations.
Let’s say you like three horses and can’t decide which will win and which will show (finish second). You can box all three horses to cover all six winning combinations. A $2 exacta box using three horses costs $12.
Exacta Key Box Bet
With an exacta key box bet, you “key” on one horse to win and box other horses underneath. A $2 exacta key box bet with the winner and two horses underneath costs $8.
This bet makes sense if you’re really confident in the horse that will win. You save some money by not “boxing” that horse with the others. It makes sense because you have fewer combinations involved.
Kentucky Derby’s Biggest Exacta Payouts
In 2005, No. 10 Giacomo won the Kentucky Derby as a 50-1 longshot.
An even longer shot — No. 18 Closing Argument (70-1) — finished second, producing the largest exacta payout in Kentucky Derby history. The $2 exacta on 10-18 returned $9,814.80.
In more recent years, a $2 exacta on Rich Strike and Epicenter paid out $4,101.20. Rich Strike won the race at odds of 80-1.
Exacta bets are fun because you can bet small and win big if good handicapping and luck are on your side. Longer odds produce larger payouts, while betting on favorites reduces your return.
How Do Exacta Payouts Work?
Horse racing’s parimutuel system dictates that you’re betting against other bettors, not the house.
If 10,000 $2 exacta bets are placed on a race, that means $20,000 is added to the pool. Tracks usually take 20% of that for their revenue, so that will reduce the pool by $4,000.
Let’s say there are only 20 winning tickets. Based on the $2 exacta payout, the winners split the remaining $16,000. Obviously, if you bet more than $2, your winnings will be multiplied accordingly.
The post Kentucky Derby 2026: What is an Exacta Bet in Horse Racing? appeared first on CasinoBeats.
Exacta bets are popular among new and longtime horse racing enthusiasts who want to wager on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. With an exacta bet, you need to pick the horses that finish first and second in the exact order. What Did the Kentucky Derby Exacta Pay Out Last Year? Let’s take a look at last year’s
The post Kentucky Derby 2026: What is an Exacta Bet in Horse Racing? appeared first on CasinoBeats.