Flightline favored at close of first Breeders' Cup Classic Future Wager pool

Flightline, the undefeated 4-year-old who is pointing to the Sept. 3 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, closed at 2-1 odds as the favorite in the first Breeders’ Cup Classic parimutuel future wager, but not without some confusion.

Flightline was listed along with 22 other individual interests and an “all-others” entry in the first pool, which closed at 6:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. The pool was hosted by Keeneland, the site of this year’s Breeders’ Cup, and because Kentucky racetracks recently switched to penny breakage, the official closing price on Flightline was $6.98 for every $2 wagered, closer to 5-2 than 2-1.

Total handle in the pool was $205,249, which was a 138 percent increase over total handle the last time a Classic future wager was held, in 2018. In that year, Breeders’ Cup offered betting on 19 individual interests and one “all-others” entry.

Breeders’ Cup acknowledged on Monday that some account-wagering sites showed different handle totals and payouts near the closing of the pool on Sunday, but it said that the discrepancies were related to “confusion” over the closing time among account-wagering sites.

Breeders’ Cup had listed the close time at 6 p.m. Eastern in a release early last week, but then listed the closing at 6:30 p.m. later in the week. As a result of that confusion, all sites remained open until 6:30, Breeders’ Cup said, though some sites began listing the wager as “off” at 6:00 while still accepting bets.

“We apologize for any confusion caused to the betting public but appreciate their strong support,” a statement from the Breeders’ Cup said.

Second choice in the betting was Life Is Good, the 4-year-old who won Saturday’s Whitney Stakes at Saratoga and closed at a $15.56 payout for each $2 bet. Next was Epicenter ($17.42), followed by Country Grammer ($27.14), Taiba ($30.80), and Charge It ($32.12). “All-others” closed at $48.36.

In alphabetical orders, the other prices were Americanrevolution ($66.60), Corniche ($166.40), Cyberknife ($37.48), Dynamic One ($127.60), Early Voting ($68.40), Emblem Road ($156.86), Express Train ($148.36), First Captain ($141.08), Hot Rod Charlie ($50.10), Mandaloun ($139.14), Olympiad ($36.94), Nest ($82.60), Rich Strike ($71.08), Royal Ship ($105.34), Stilleto Boy ($220.46), Tawny Port ($160.66), and Zandon ($53.86).

There will be one more future wager pool on the Classic, which will open Friday, Sept. 2, and close Monday, Sept. 5.