Kentucky Derby Future Wager: Mutuel field opens as 7-5 favorite

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As usual, the mutuel field is a solid early favorite in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, although Todd Pletcher nearly has ‘em surrounded.

As of 5 p.m. Eastern on Friday, the field – the 24th or “all others” option – was the 7-5 favorite after a healthy $131,303 was bet into the win pool. Pletcher is the trainer of the next four separately listed runners, all of whom were single-digit odds: Revolutionary (7-1), Shanghai Bobby (7-1), Verrazano (7-1), and Violence (8-1). Next in line were Goldencents (8-1) and Itsmyluckyday (22-1).

Another $14,237 was bet into the exacta pool in Pool 1, which opened Friday at noon for the 15th year of parimutuel futures offered by Churchill Downs.

Every year since Churchill began offering parimutuel futures in 1999, the field has closed as the favorite in Pool 1. A Pool 1 field horse has wound up winning the Derby in six of those 14 prior years, the latest being Animal Kingdom in 2011.

In all previous years, the odds on the field invariably have drifted above the even-money mark, but in a wide-open year such as this, bettors might well keep the field below 2-1.

As with any parimutuel wager, odds will change throughout the weekend, with final odds established at the appointed closing time of 6 p.m. Sunday.

Combined win and exacta handle last year for Pool 1 was a record $631,304.

The 139th Derby will be run May 4. Pool 2 is set for March 1-3 and Pool 3 for March 22-24. A single Kentucky Oaks futures pool will be offered this year, to run concurrently with Derby Pool 2.

Real-time updates of win odds and exacta probables are available through a number of sources, including television monitors at tracks and wagering outlets and on kentuckyderby.com.

Pletcher won his only Derby in 2010 with Super Saver and has seven of the 23 separate interests in this pool, with the others being Cape Bastone, Delhomme, and Overanalyze. All those were 99-1 after the first five hours but are sure to drop lower as the weekend unfolds.