Breeders' Cup futures on Classic, Distaff begin Friday

Parimutuel futures wagering on 23 individual interests and a field entry in both the Breeders’ Cup Classic and Breeders’ Cup Distaff will open on Friday and close on Sunday evening, the Breeders’ Cup announced on Wednesday.

The two pools will open nine weeks before the Nov. 2-3 Breeders’ Cup, to be held this year at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Accelerate, the runaway winner of last weekend’s Pacific Classic at Del Mar, is listed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite in the Classic, and Monomoy Girl, the winner of the Kentucky Oaks, is listed as the 7-2 favorite in the Distaff.

Daily Racing Form reported on Monday that Breeders’ Cup was planning to offer futures wagering on three weekends this year, citing racing officials and internal documents at account-wagering companies. However, that report said that the fields would be limited to 15 individual horses and a field entry. Breeders’ Cup had declined to comment for the Monday report.

The Classic and Distaff future wagers will be followed next weekend by two future pools, for the Juvenile and the sire of the Juvenile winner, also with 23 individual entries and a field entry. Two additional pools will be offered over the weekend of Oct. 5-7, with wagering being offered again on the Classic and also on the Turf, according to Breeders’ Cup. Those fields may be limited to 15 individual entries and a field wager, Breeders’ Cup said, though the size of the fields have not yet been finalized.

The field for this weekend’s Distaff already has a scratch, with Unbridled Mo out of the betting, reducing the offerings to 22 individual entries. The connections of Unbridled Mo announced on Tuesday that she was being retired, after Breeders’ Cup had already settled on the field for the race but prior to an official announcement that the future bets would be offered.

The minimum bet for the pools will be $2, with win betting only. Takeout will be 17.5 percent, the takeout rate for straight wagers at Churchill Downs.

In addition to being the favorite in the Distaff pool, Monomoy Girl is listed at 30-1 in the pool for the Classic, which will be run at its traditional distance of 1 ¼ miles. Although Monomoy Girl has dominated the 3-year-old filly division this year, her connections passed on the Alabama Stakes last weekend, citing the 1 ¼-mile distance, opting to point instead for the Cotillion at Parx, run at 1 1/16 miles.