The mutuel field (#24), known to many racing fans as “All Others,” has been
the favorite in each of Churchill Downs Racetrack’s Kentucky Derby Future Wager
(KDFW) pools that have opened a calendar year since the wager was created in
1999, and there is no reason to expect that history will not be served when the
opening pool of 2015 (February 6-8) completes its run on Sunday evening.
Churchill Downs Handicapper Mike Battaglia has installed “All Others” as a
strong even-money morning line favorite among the 24 betting interests in the
three-day
Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 that opens its run at noon (EST) on
Friday and concludes on Sunday at 6 p.m. Recently-crowned 2014 Eclipse Award
two-year-old champion American Pharoah (#1), along with Dortmund (#5), Upstart
(#23), Carpe Diem (#2) and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Texas Red (#21),
headline the 23 individual betting interests.
The pool is the second KDFW pool leading up to the 2015 Kentucky Derby,
following an opening pool conducted November 28-30. “All Others” was the 3-5
favorite in November’s three-day pool, which attracted total wagering of
$234,574. Total betting in the 2014 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, the first to
feature four wagering pools, was $1,324,466.
The Kentucky Derby Future Wager enables fans of America’s greatest race to
wager on candidates for the $2 million Kentucky Derby (G1) well in advance of
the race at odds that could be much more attractive than those offered on the
day of the race. Winning payouts in all KDFW pools are determined by the odds
that are in place at the end of each respective betting pool. Those winning
mutuel payouts for the $2 minimum win and exacta wagers placed in each Kentucky
Derby Future pool will be made following the running of the Kentucky Derby on
May 2 at Churchill Downs.
The favored mutuel field includes all three-year-old Thoroughbreds other than
the 23 individual horses listed among the 24 betting interests in KDFW Pool 2.
With Battaglia tabbing “All Others” as such a strong favorite in his morning
line odds, fans may find wagering value in the odds on the individual betting
interests. Zayat Stables LLC’s American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), honored as
the juvenile champion of 2014 after emphatic Grade 1 wins in the Del Mar
Futurity and Santa Anita’s FrontRunner for three-time Kentucky Derby-winning
trainer Bob Baffert, is the favored individual horse at 10-1.
American Pharoah was injured shortly before a scheduled run in last fall’s
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita and was forced to miss that race. He
returned to serious training on Monday with a three-furlong workout at Santa
Anita.
Close behind the champion and Pool 2 favorite are Kaleem Shah Inc.’s unbeaten
Dortmund (Big Brown), the Baffert-trained winner of the Los Alamitos Futurity
(G1), and Ralph M. Evans’ Upstart (Flatter), an impressive winner of the Holy
Bull (G2) at Gulfstream Park for trainer Rick Violette Jr. Those wagering
interests are the co-second choices among individual horses at 12-1. Dortmund
was the 9-1 individual favorite during last fall’s opening pool of this year’s
Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
Just behind that duo at 15-1 is the duo of WinStar Farm LLC and Stonestreet
Stables LLC’s Carpe Diem (Giant’s Causeway), the Todd Pletcher-trained winner of
Keeneland’s Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile;
and Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmar, Lee Micheals, and Keith Desormeaux et al’s Texas
Red (Afleet Alex), an emphatic winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile who was
narrowly beaten in his 2015 debut in Sunday’s San Vicente (G2) at Santa Anita.
Texas Red is trained by co-owner Desormeaux and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, the
trainer’s three-time Kentucky Derby-winning brother.
Carpe Diem is one of six KDFW Pool 2 individual betting interests trained by
Pletcher, who scored his lone Kentucky Derby victory in 2010 with WinStar Farm’s
Super Saver. Joining Carpe Diem in Pletcher’s half-dozen are Competitive Edge
(#3), Daredevil (#4), Itsaknockout (#13), J S Bach (#14) and Khozan (#15). The
latter, owned by Al Shaqab Racing, is son of Distorted Humor and a half-brother
to two-time champion Royal Delta who scored an easy victory in his racing debut
on January 24 at Gulfstream Park.
Baffert and Kiaran McLaughlin each have three trainees in the pool. Along
with top individual choices American Pharoah and Dortmund, Baffert trains Lord
Nelson (#16, 30-1), who edged Texas Red in the San Vicente in his first start of
2015. McLaughin, a Lexington, Kentucky native looking for his first
triumph in the Kentucky Derby, trains Frosted (#9, 30-1) and Imperia (#11,
30-1), both owned by Dubai-based Godolphin, and Stonestreet Stables LLC’s Ocean
Knight (#18), the unbeaten winner of the Sam F. Davis (G3) last Saturday at
Tampa Bay Downs. McLaughlin saddled Closing Argument for a runner-up finish to
the victorious Giacomo in the 2005 Kentucky Derby.
Nine of Pool 2’s betting interests were not featured in November’s opening
KDFW Pool 1. They are Far Right (#7, 50-1), Firing Line (#8, 30-1), Gorgeous
Bird (#10, 50-1), International Star (#12, 50-1), Itsaknockout (50-1), J S. Bach
(30-1), Khozan (20-1), Ocean Knight (50-1) and Prospect Park (#20, 50-1).
Wagering on Pool 2 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be offered at Churchill
Downs and racetracks throughout North America; on the web via
TwinSpires.com, the
official online wagering site of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs
Incorporated and other advance deposit wagering sites; and at other simulcast
centers and off-track wagering sites.
No scratches or betting refunds are permitted in the Kentucky Derby Future
wager, but betting will be suspended immediately on a wagering interest in any
KDFW pool if Churchill Downs determines that injury, illness or other
circumstance revealed during a pool would prevent a horse from competing in the
race.
Wagering interests for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager were chosen by
Churchill Downs committee that included Racing Secretary Ben Huffman, Senior
Director of Communications Darren Rogers, Senior Racing Analyst Jill Byrne,
Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager Gary Palmisano and Vice President, Racing
Communications John Asher.
Free Brisnet Ultimate Past Performances for wagering interests in Pool 2 of
the Kentucky Derby Future Wager are available at
http://www.brisnet.com/brisnet_promos/KDFW2.pdf. Brisnet also has
complimentary past performances for all Triple Crown nominees at
http://www.brisnet.com/brisnet_promos/TC15noms.pdf.
Two more Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools are scheduled in the months
leading up to Derby 141. The dates for those pools are:
| KDFW Pool 3: | February 27-March 1 (nine weeks in advance of Derby) | |
| KDFW Pool 4: | March 27-March 29 (five weeks in advance of Derby) |
There will be a single pool for the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which was
launched in 2003 and is now in its 13th year. That pool will run
concurrently with KDFW Pool 3 from February 27 through March 1. The only
difference in the schedule of those pools is a 6:30 p.m. closing time for the
Oaks pool, which is 30 minutes later than the KDFW pool.
Real-time odds during the three-day run of KDFW Pool 2 and other information
the wager and the Kentucky Derby are available at the official event Web site at
www.KentuckyDerby.com.
Click here for wagering interests and morning line odds for Pool 2.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com