First pool of Kentucky Derby Future Wager begins Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 23nd year of Churchill Downs offering parimutuel futures on the Kentucky Derby starts Thursday, when the first of five pools toward the 2021 Derby opens at noon Eastern.

Familiar parameters apply – 22 separately listed wagering interests, along with a mutuel field (No. 24) that has closed as the Pool 1 favorite every year since Churchill first unveiled the Kentucky Derby Future Wager in 1999. Also, a “filly-only” interest will be offered again as No. 23.

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 set by Mike Battaglia for Pool 1, followed by Essential Quality, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, at 10-1. Highly Motivated and Life Is Good are next at 15-1, and all the rest are 20-1 or higher.

The Kentucky Derby Sires Future Wager, with “all other sires” as a 9-2 morning-line choice, will coincide with Pool 1. This is the sixth year for the Sires Wager; combined handle for the 2020 Derby was $47,082.

Churchill has offered four 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.

At least two of the separately listed horses, King Fury and Super Stock, 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 any horse that runs in the KJC, depending on how they fare.

Pool 2 is set for Jan. 22-24, Pool 3 for Feb. 12-14, Pool 4 for March 5-7, and Pool 5 for March 26-28. The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Pool 4.

Last year in Pool 1, the eventual winner of the 2020 Derby, Authentic, was 50-1; he was one of just four horses to be listed as a separate interest in all seven pools. The “filly-only” interest closed at 57-1, with no filly winding up in the Derby field. The field was the 11-10 favorite.

The record for handle in a single pool remains $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 147th Kentucky Derby will be run May 1, 2021.