[1] The Kentucky Derby is just under 90 days away, but it’s not too early to pick your horse and make a wager on the May 4th race. The first pool in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager opens Friday, Feb. 8, at noon EST and closes Sunday, Feb. 10, at 6 p.m. EST. Two additional Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools will be offered Mar. 1-3 and Mar. 22-24. The only Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool will run concurrently with Pool 2.
The Kentucky Derby Future Wager allows bettors the opportunity at higher odds than may be available on Derby Day. However, there are no refunds if your horse doesn’t start in the Kentucky Derby or is injured or otherwise removed from consideration during pool wagering. Churchill Downs will immediately suspend wagering on a horse if it learns that something has happened to a horse to prevent it from entering the Kentucky Derby.
The Kentucky Derby Future Wager offers a minimum $2 win wager only, no place or show wagering. Also offered is a minimum $2 straight exacta wager or a minimum $1 boxed exacta or part-wheel wager. Twenty-three individual betting interests are available in the pool, plus the always popular “All Others” mutual field. The “All Others” option has closed as the favorite in Pool 1 the last 14 years since the Kentucky Derby Future Wager began.
The morning-line favorite in this year’s Kentucky Derby Future Wager is the “All Others” option at 9-5. Co-second choices, at odds of 12-1, are Todd Pletcher’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Shanghai Bobby and CashCall Futurity winner Violence. Itsmyluckyday, Verrazano, Overanalyze and Flashback are listed at odds of 15-1. Rick Pitino’s Goldencents is listed at odds of 20-1, as well as Normandy Invasion, Oxbow, Revolutionary, Super Ninety Nine, Uncaptured, and Vyjack. Capo Bastone, Delhomme, Den’s Legacy, Dynamic Sky, Falling Sky, Mylute, and Will Take Charge all start the pool at odds of 30-1. Lastly, those with the highest odds at 50-1 are Code West, Frac Daddy, and He’s Had Enough.
“It’s normal and logical for ‘All Others’ to be favored in the opening pool of the Derby Future Wager, but it’s rare for me to set its morning line odds so low,” said Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia. “No individual horse has really grabbed the attention of Derby fans, and while several lightly-raced horses have been impressive, they are question marks in terms of experience. It will be fun to shop for attractive prices on individual horses, but most fans figure to find their way back to the mutuel field before the pool closes.”
A complete list of the 24 betting interests, plus real-time odds, for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager can be found on the official Kentucky Derby website [3]. To place your future wager, visit Churchill Downs’ new simulcasting venue, the Parlay Room [4]. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. You can also wager through online wagering accounts like Twinspires.com, Xpressbet, DRF Bets, and TVG.
Brisnet is offering free Past Performances [5](PPs) for all Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1 interests. Brisnet is also offering free PPs [6]on all Triple Crown nominated horses that will be updated weekly.
The Kentucky Derby Future Wager is a fun way to get in the game early and start analyzing the Kentucky Derby contenders. Maybe your horse won’t make the Kentucky Derby or maybe your horse will go on to win the Preakness or Belmont. Either way, it’s a good excuse to start talking Derby!
Photo: J. Oswald