Kentucky Derby winner Mage pays off at as much as 100-1
Mage paid off for most of his on-the-nose bettors at odds of 15-1 when he won Saturday in Kentucky Derby 2023. The $32.42 return on a $2 win ticket, however, was not as good as it got.
In Nevada, bettors could have had him at 100-1 as recently April 1, when Circa Sports drifted him to those odds before he finished second in the Florida Derby (G1). After that Mage’s price never was shorter than 25-1.
Caesars Sportsbook had the Good Magic colt at 17-1 shortly before it closed its fixed-odds win pool Saturday afternoon. That was the best Las Vegas price available on race day and, in fact, the only one that offered more value at that hour for any horse than the Churchill Downs pari-mutuels that attracted $89,239,818 in win, place and show bets.
In late January, Mage opened in the futures at 100-1 at Caesars and 65-1 at Circa right after he made a winning debut in a maiden sprint at Gulfstream Park. His best price shortened to 75-1 but went back to 100-1 after he finished fourth in the Fountain of Youth (G2) on March 4.
| Mage futures | Caesars | Circa | Westgate | KDFW |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 30 | 100-1 | 65-1 | ||
| Feb. 6 | 100-1 | 65-1 | ||
| Feb. 13 | 100-1 | 65-1 | 48-1 | |
| Feb. 20 | 75-1 | 90-1 | ||
| Feb. 27 | 75-1 | 65-1 | ||
| March 6 | 100-1 | 60-1 | ||
| March 13 | 100-1 | 75-1 | 75-1 | |
| March 20 | 100-1 | 90-1 | ||
| March 27 | 75-1 | 100-1 | 60-1 | |
| April 3 | 20-1 | 20-1 | 20-1 | 46-1 |
| April 10 | 18-1 | 18-1 | 25-1 | |
| April 17 | 24-1 | 18-1 | 20-1 | |
| April 24 | 24-1 | 20-1 | 20-1 | |
| April 28 | 24-1 | 20-1 | 20-1 | |
| May 1 | 22-1 | 20-1 | 20-1 |
Bettors who backed Mage as an individual choice in the pari-mutuel Kentucky Derby Future Wager cashed at odds of 48-1 from February’s pool 4, 75-1 from March’s pool 5 and 46-1 from April’s pool 6. Players who took the all-others option in the early KDFW pools won at 4-5 odds from early November, 4-5 from Thanksgiving weekend and 2-1 from January.
The amount of money in the Nevada futures is not known outside of the back rooms at the casinos. Bookmakers do not divulge those specifics, and the Nevada Gaming Control Board does not parse those numbers publicly.
These were the closing fixed odds at Caesars Sportsbook, Circa Sports and the Westgate SuperBook just before post time. They are shown with the best Nevada odds May 1 just before Derby entries and with the post-time, pari-mutuel odds at Churchill Downs.
| Kentucky Derby 2023 | Caesars | Circa | Westgate | May 1 | CD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5. Tapit Trice | 9-2 | 9-2 | 9-2 | 6-1 | 9-2 |
| 14. Angel of Empire | 9-2 | 4-1 | 4-1 | 12-1 | 4-1 |
| 17. Derma Sotogake | 6-1 | 6-1 | 6-1 | 12-1 | 7-1 |
| 3. Two Phil's | 8-1 | 11-1 | 10-1 | 25-1 | 9-1 |
| 6. Kingsbarns | 9-1 | 13-1 | 10-1 | 15-1 | 11-1 |
| 2. Verifying | 15-1 | 13-1 | 10-1 | 12-1 | 14-1 |
| 8. Mage | 17-1 | 10-1 | 10-1 | 22-1 | 15-1 |
| 22. Mandarin Hero | 19-1 | 15-1 | 16-1 | 125-1 | 17-1 |
| 4. Confidence Game | 20-1 | 20-1 | 14-1 | 22-1 | 21-1 |
| 1. Hit Show | 22-1 | 25-1 | 30-1 | 40-1 | 24-1 |
| 7. Reincarnate | 11-1 | 30-1 | 18-1 | 55-1 | 14-1 |
| 11. Disarm | 25-1 | 35-1 | 40-1 | 46-1 | 27-1 |
| 18. Rocket Can | 27-1 | 30-1 | 40-1 | 60-1 | 28-1 |
| 13. Sun Thunder | 28-1 | 45-1 | 50-1 | 100-1 | 33-1 |
| 21. Cyclone Mischief | 27-1 | 50-1 | 30-1 | 68-1 | 29-1 |
| 23. King Russell | 28-1 | 65-1 | 40-1 | 250-1 | 32-1 |
| 12. Jace's Road | 35-1 | 75-1 | 50-1 | 60-1 | 33-1 |
| 16. Raise Cain | 28-1 | 75-1 | 60-1 | 60-1 | 33-1 |
| May 1: Nev. best | |||||
| CD: Pari-mutuels |