Best Trifecta Bets for the Kentucky Derby 2025

by Mike Allen - 4/30/2025

Ladies, break out your biggest hat, a beautiful dress, and keep one hand free for your mint julep. For the men and a few lovely ladies, it's time to throw on some different headwear, thinking caps, if you will. We are now just days away from the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby.

Hosted, of course, at the classic Churchill Downs in Lexington, Kentucky, the Kentucky Derby is the oldest sporting event in the USA. Also known as the most exciting two minutes in sports, this race is the Super Bowl for horse racing and the first of three, comprising the coveted Triple Crown.

If this is your first time betting on the Derby, or perhaps you've placed some wagers on a horse to win but haven't taken advantage of the many methods, you can potentially win big money. The one I want to discuss with you guys today is called a trifecta bet.

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What is a Trifecta Bet?

A trifecta bet is a parimutuel wager used particularly in horse racing. In order to win a trifecta bet, you must predict which of the talented colts will finish in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. It is a tall task, of course, but the payouts would be gigantic.

Outside of that, imagine the excitement, the moment… That’s something that nobody could forget, even after a dozen doubles of those magical mint juleps.

You may wonder what a parimutuel bet is and how much the payout would be for specific combinations of horses/finishers. The amount you can win has yet to be determined.

The people holding winning tickets will divvy up the total amount wagered in proportion to their bets. If you see the term paramutel machine, it’s referring to the same type of wager.

A trifecta bet can be adjusted from a "straight trifecta," as we just explained, to an unlimited trifecta bet that allows you to get the finishing order wrong just as long as you pick the correct top three finishers at the Derby.

Cost and Payout of a Trifecta Bet

I’m sure you’re well aware you will probably lose your trifecta wager. That’s cool because the minimum amount you need to wager is as low as .50 cents in some sportsbooks, while others may require you to bet a full dollar to play.

2025 Kentucky Derby Free Trifecta Picks

Journalism: 3/1
Luxor Cafe: 14/1
Rodriguez: 15/1

Journalism

Journalism is a 3-year-old colt trained by Michael McCarthy. This horse is undefeated at 3-0-1, with one of those victories coming earlier this month at the Santa Anita Derby. This horse is the odds-on-betting favorite to win the 151st Kentucky Derby.

Even though Journalism has a middle-of-the-pack racing style, his clocked speeds are up there with those of the horses considered front runners.

Add in the expected faster pace of the race, and the favorite could very well find himself surging ahead of the rest by the time he gallops past the finish line.

Luxor Cafe

Luxor Cafe, coming all the way from the Land of the Rising Sun, is a horse that has star potential. He’s coming off the biggest win of his career in his most recent race, where he absolutely dominated the field, leading virtually from start to finish, winning by a full nine furlongs.

The horse himself isn’t born and bred in Japan. He is an American colt with a pedigree of ancestry that ran their best races on mile-long tracks like we will see on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

With a price of 14/1, Luxor Cafe is one of the more popular and potentially valuable picks to win when you weigh the betting odds.

Rodriguez

Before we get into Rodriguez, we have to address the "long-awaited" return of master trainer Bob Baffert, a legend in the sport of horse racing. Baffert had been suspended for the previous two years after being caught enhancing the performance of his horses.

From a betting perspective, we can’t start to think holier than thou. He may have had to return some of his winnings after being caught, but bettors got to keep their cash.

Rodriguez is one of the fastest horses in the field. I think he could have the lead heading into the home stretch, but endurance has never been his strength.

That’s when he could slide back to the third spot.

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