Field pegged at 6-5 for Pool 1 of Kentucky Derby Future Wager
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 22nd year of Churchill Downs offering parimutuel futures on the Kentucky Derby starts Thursday, when the first of four pools toward the 2020 Derby opens at noon Eastern.
There will be 22 separately listed wagering interests; a “filly only” interest, which debuted last year in Pool 1, offered as No. 23; and a mutuel field (No. 24), which has closed as the Pool 1 favorite every year since Churchill first unveiled the Kentucky Derby Future Wager in 1999.
Win and exacta wagering are available, with odds and will-pays locked in only when the pool closes Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern following four days of wagering.
As expected, the field is listed as the 6-5 favorite on the Churchill morning line for Pool 1, followed by Independence Hall and Storm the Court, both at 12-1. Five horses are listed at 15-1, and all the rest are higher.
The Kentucky Derby Sires Future Wager, with the mutuel field as a 4-1 morning-line choice, will coincide with Pool 1. This is the fifth year for the Sires Wager.
Two of the separately listed horses, Tiz the Law and South Bend, are expected to run Saturday at Churchill in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, the only notable 2-year-old stakes to be run while Pool 1 is open. It’s reasonable to expect odds changes before the pool closes on those horses, depending on how they fare in the KJC.
Pool 2 is set for Feb. 7-9, Pool 3 for March 6-8, and Pool 4 for April 3-5. The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Pool 3.
Last year, combined handle was $258,389 on Pool 1 and $32,924 on the sires futures. The eventual Derby winner, Country House, was still a maiden at this time last year and therefore was part of the Pool 1 field, which closed as the 6-5 favorite. The sire of Country House, Lookin At Lucky, was part of the Sires field, paying $13.80 to win for $2. The “filly only” interest (offered in Pool 1 only), closed at 66-1, with no filly winding up in the Derby field.
Aggregate handle for all four pools toward the 2019 Derby was $1,678,235. The record for aggregate handle in a single year is $1,893,353, set in 2018. The record for handle in a single pool is $631,304, set in 2012 (Pool 2).
Real-time odds and will-pays are available through various modes, including on television monitors at tracks and wagering outlets.
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.
Composition of all futures lineups is decided by Churchill personnel.
The 146th Kentucky Derby will be run May 2, 2020.
| Horse | Trainer | Odds |
| American Theorem | G. Papaprodromou | 50-1 |
| Anneu d'Or | B. Wright | 20-1 |
| Answer In | B. Cox | 50-1 |
| Authentic | B. Baffert | 20-1 |
| Basin | S. Asmussen | 15-1 |
| Dennis' Moment | D. Romans | 15-1 |
| Eight Rings | B. Baffert | 15-1 |
| Gouverneur Morris | T. Pletcher | 20-1 |
| Great Power | S. Callaghan | 50-1 |
| Green Light Go | J. Jerkens | 50-1 |
| High Velocity | B. Baffert | 20-1 |
| Honor A.P. | J. Shirreffs | 20-1 |
| Independence Hall | M. Trombetta | 12-1 |
| Maxfield | B. Walsh | 15-1 |
| Scabbard | E. Kenneally | 50-1 |
| South Bend | S. Hough | 30-1 |
| Storm the Court | P. Eurton | 12-1 |
| Structor | C. Brown | 20-1 |
| Thousand Words | B. Baffert | 15-1 |
| Three Technique | J. Englehart | 50-1 |
| Tiz the Law | B. Tagg | 20-1 |
| Wrecking Crew | P. Miller | 50-1 |
| All 3yo Fillies | n/a | 30-1 |
| Mutuel field | n/a | 6-5 |