Essential Quality favored in final pool of Kentucky Derby Future Wager

Eight new names are among the separately listed interests in the fifth and final pool of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern for the customary three-day run.

Essential Quality is listed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite in Pool 5, followed closely by Greatest Honour (4-1), Concert Tour (9-2), and Hot Rod Charlie (6-1). The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, is listed at 20-1 after closing as the favorite in the first three pools.

Life Is Good, who closed as a remarkably low 2-1 favorite when Pool 4 was held March 5-7, is no longer on the Derby trail after recently being injured. His trainer, Bob Baffert, still has four separate interests in Pool 5.

Wagering will not be accepted on Big Lake, who is listed as No. 1 in Pool 5, after the colt was declared from Triple Crown consideration because of an injury. Big Lake was a field horse in all prior pools.

:: KENTUCKY DERBY 2021: Derby Watch, point standings, prep schedule, news, and more

Besides Big Lake, the new names for Pool 5 are Crowded Trade, Helium, Hidden Stash, Hozier, O Besos, Rock Your World, and Weyburn.

Aside from Life Is Good, gone from Pool 4 are Candy Man Rocket, Freedom Fighter, Hush of a Storm, Keepmeinmind, Roman Centurian, Rombauer, and The Great One.

Win and exacta wagering are available, with odds and will-pays locked in only when the pool closes at 6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

Three Pool 5 horses are expected to run Saturday in the Florida Derby, those being Greatest Honour, Spielberg, and Collaborate. No Pool 5 horse is in the prospective lineup for the only other Derby qualifier to be run the same day, the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.

Last year, the eventual Derby winner, Authentic, was one of four horses listed separately in every pool. Toward the 2021 Derby, there are five such horses: Caddo River, Essential Quality, Highly Motivated, Hot Rod Charlie, and Midnight Bourbon.

The field closed as the 6-5 favorite in Pool 1, held Nov. 26-29 in tandem with the Derby Sires Future Wager, then at 9-5 in Pool 2 (Jan. 22-24) and 3-1 in Pool 3 (Feb. 12-14). Pool 4, which drew $322,476 in combined handle, coincided with the Kentucky Oaks futures and Oaks-Derby double.

Churchill had offered four pari-mutuel futures pools in recent years, although there were seven pools toward the 2020 Derby because of the race being postponed from May to September due to the coronavirus pandemic. Churchill has offered futures annually since 1999.

In the case of field horses filling both exacta slots, the next-best finish by a separately listed horse will count toward the winning combination.

Real-time odds and exacta will-pays are available on television monitors at most simulcast venues and through kentuckyderby.com/wager/future-wager.

The 147th Derby will be run May 1.

2021 KENTUCKY DERBY POOL 5

(No., Horse, Trainer, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 M/L)

1. Big Lake, S. Asmussen, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), SCR

2. Caddo River, B. Cox, 27-1, 13-1, 15-1, 16-1, 30-1

3. Collaborate, S. Joseph Jr., 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 29-1, 30-1

4. Concert Tour, B. Baffert, 6-5(f), 16-1, 17-1, 17-1, 9-2

5. Crowded Trade, C. Brown, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), 30-1

6. Dream Shake, P. Eurton, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 28-1, 71-1, 50-1

7. Essential Quality, B. Cox, 8-1, 8-1, 8-1, 5-1, 3-1

8. Greatest Honour, S. McGaughey, 6-5(f), 40-1, 9-1, 6-1, 4-1

9. Helium, M. Casse, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), 30-1

10. Hidden Stash, V. Oliver, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), 50-1

11. Highly Motivated, C. Brown, 18-1, 24-1, 37-1, 36-1, 30-1

12. Hot Rod Charlie, D. O’Neill, 34-1, 40-1, 35-1, 53-1, 6-1

13. Hozier, B. Baffert, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), 30-1

14. Mandaloun, B. Cox, 6-5(f), 42-1, 16-1, 17-1, 30-1

15. Medina Spirit, B. Baffert, 6-5(f), 24-1, 25-1, 39-1, 20-1

16. Midnight Bourbon, S. Asmussen, 59-1, 26-1, 41-1, 52-1, 30-1

17. O Besos, G. Foley, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), 50-1

18. Prevalence, B. Walsh, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 14-1, 29-1, 20-1

19. Proxy, M. Stidham, 6-5(f), 76-1, 3-1(f), 41-1, 30-1

20. Risk Taking, C. Brown, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 25-1, 42-1, 30-1

21. Rock Your World, J. Sadler, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), 50-1

22. Spielberg, B. Baffert, 6-5(f), 47-1, 3-1(f), 63-1, 50-1

23. Weyburn, J. Jerkens, 6-5(f), 9-5(f), 3-1(f), 7-1(f), 30-1

24. Mutuel field, n/a, 6-5, 9-5, 3-1, 7-1, 20-1