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PARK IN VIRGINIA TOOK HOME FIRST PLACE. HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS WILL BE BET ON THE KENTUCKY DERBY THIS YEAR. LAST YEAR, MORE THAN $210 MILLION WERE BET ON THE DERBY. OUR SAM CARTER CAUGHT UP WITH AN EXPERT TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR BETTING SLIP. ON MAY 3RD. MORE THAN 150,000 PEOPLE WILL CRAM INTO CHURCHILL DOWNS FOR THE 151ST RUNNING OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY, AND MANY OF THEM WILL BE PLACING A BET. BUT WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU DO WITH A PACKED FIELD? FOR THE 151ST RUNNING OF THE KENTUCKY DERBY? PICKING A WINNER CAN FEEL LIKE AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK, BUT LEAD HORSE RACING ANALYST WITH CHURCHILL DOWNS, JOE KRYSTUFEK, THINKS A FEW SIMPLE METRICS CAN HELP YOU NARROW THE FIELD. I WOULD SAY THE SPEED FIGURES, WHICH WHATEVER PAST PERFORMANCES YOU’RE USING, IS USUALLY THE BOLD NUMBER HIGHER THE BETTER. MOST OF THE HORSES IN THE OAKS AND DERBY FIELD HAVE SPEED FIGURES. IN THE 90S 100. NOW, IF YOU DON’T WANT TO TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO THE NUMBERS, KRYSTUFEK RECOMMENDS LOOKING AT YOUR RACING FORMS FOR SOME NAMES FAMILIAR TO YOU. PEOPLE CAN GRAVITATE TOWARDS THE JOCKEYS AND THE TRAINERS THAT WIN MOST OF THE RACES. HERE AT CHURCHILL DOWNS AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. THE BIGGER RACES, JOE IS REALLY GOOD AT PICKING THE PONIES. AS OF THURSDAY, HE PICKED ABOUT 40% OF THE WINNERS DURING THIS YEAR’S SPRING MEET. BUT WITH SO MUCH THAT CAN HAPPEN DURING A RACE, HE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT AT LEAST A LITTLE LUCK IS INVOLVED. I WOULD SAY DEFINITELY GOOD FORTUNE COMES INTO PLAY BECAUSE YOU CAN MAP IT OUT IN YOUR HEAD. BUT ONCE THOSE GATES OPEN, EVERYTHING CAN CHANGE. HORSES THAT YOU DON’T EXPECT TO GO FORWARD, GO FORWARD. HORSES THAT YOU THINK HAVE A BIG CHANCE. GET SANDWICHED AT THE GATE, LOSE EIGHT LENGTHS AT THE START AND THEN HAVE TO MAKE UP ALL THAT GROUND THROUGH TRAFFIC. AND JOE DID ADD ONE THING ONLY BET WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE. IT’S HORSE RACING AFTER ALL, AND ANYTHING C