Breeders' Cup to give future wagering another try

Breeders’ Cup plans to offer parimutuel future wagering on several of the races Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs, according to multiple racing officials with knowledge of the plans.

Future bets could be offered as early as this weekend on both the Classic and Distaff, according to the officials and multiple internal documents obtained by Daily Racing Form. The Classic and Distaff future wagers would each offer wagering on 15 individual horses and a single field entry, according to the documents, and they would open at noon Friday and close at 6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

Breeders’ Cup officials declined to comment on the plans Monday.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission was scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon and will consider an agenda item in which Churchill Downs will request approval for wagers offered on the Breeders’ Cup this year. Commission officials did not immediately respond to a request for additional detail about the agenda item.

If the plans are approved, this will be the second go-round for Breeders’ Cup in offering future bets on its races. The organization also offered future wagering in 2002 and 2003, but those offerings were scuttled after only two years due to an unsatisfactory level of interest from handicappers.

According to the documents obtained by Daily Racing Form, future wagering would be offered in two pools over the weekend of Aug. 31-Sept. 2, with betting offered on the winner of the Juvenile and the sire of the Juvenile winner. Then, over the weekend of Oct. 5-7, when several Breeders’ Cup prep races are scheduled at tracks across the country, Breeders’ Cup would offer a second future pool on the Classic and a pool for the Turf.

The minimum wager for the pools will be $2, and takeout will be 17.5 percent, the rate for win bets at Churchill, the documents state. All of the pools will offer 15 specific wagering interests and the field entry.

Racing officials were sent details about the future wagers in their Breeders’ Cup simulcast contracts, according to one official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of his relationship with Breeders’ Cup. The official said that many simulcast operators were in the dark about whether Breeders’ Cup planned to go forward with the futures this weekend, but that he expected more details to be announced later this week.

“The timing is not ideal,” the official said. “We got some stuff last week, but nothing since then.”

Parimutuel future wagering has been conducted on the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks for nearly two decades. Those pools have offered bettors the opportunity to bet on 23 individual interests, plus the field entry.