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Kentucky Derby 2015: What is a Trifecta?

By CM Towle

Apr 30, 2015; Lousiville, KY, USA; Roberto Luna washes Kentucky Derby entrant Dortmund after work outs at Churchill Downs. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 30, 2015; Lousiville, KY, USA; Roberto Luna washes Kentucky Derby entrant Dortmund after work outs at Churchill Downs. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports /
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In advance of the Kentucky Derby, we take a look at one of the highest-paying exotic bets in horse racing, the trifecta.

A trifecta is considered an “exotic” bet, i.e. outside of the typical win/place/show bet. At its most simple, a trifecta is picking the first, second and third place finishers in the correct order. Although usually harder to hit than an exacta, trifecta payouts can be huge. Take the 2005 Kentucky Derby for example. Giacomo over Closing Argument over Afleet Alex paid $133,000 on just a $2 bet. This was largely due to the long odds on Giacomo, one of the longest shots to ever win the Derby.

There are three ways to bet the trifecta. There’s the straight trifecta, as previously mentioned, then the trifecta box and the trifecta wheel. The straight trifecta is the most basic bet. Simply pick the first, second and third place finishers and in order to win, the horses must finish exactly as picked. For example, picking horses 2-6-3 in a straight trifecta means horse 2 must come in first, horse 6 must come in second and horse 3 must come in third. You have to be pretty confident in your selections to make this bet.

The trifecta box puts the odds more in your corner as you’re betting those same three horses, 2-6-3, but this time they can finish in any order between first and third and you will get a payout. A $2 trifecta box ends up costing $12 because you’re essentially betting on six different combinations of finishes. You can even add more horses to your bet to increase the combinations and odds of winning, but you also increase your payment. Unlike exactas, trifecta possibilities aren’t shown at the track as there are too many combinations.

A trifecta wheel usually means you are using one horse “wheeled” with several others. For example, you think the 2 horse is definitely going to win and 6 or 3 will probably finish second, so you would have 2/3,6/3,6. So 2 would have to win and 3 and 6 would have to finish second and third. This bet would cost $4 as there are only two possible outcomes: 2/6/3 or 2/3/6.

In general, you should not play a trifecta unless you have a strong opinion on at least one horse in the race, otherwise you’re basically playing the lottery.

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