Kentucky Derby Future Wager throws fillies into the mix
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Fans betting into the first pool of the 2019 Kentucky Derby Future Wager this Thursday-Sunday are being presented with the new option of “any filly” among the 24 betting choices.
Listed as No. 23, the “any filly” option is self-explanatory: any filly that happens to make the lineup for the Derby next May will be a live play.
“Any filly” is pegged at 30-1 on the morning line as released Monday by Churchill Downs. No filly has won the Derby since Winning Colors in 1988, and none has started since Devil May Care was 10th in 2010.
Otherwise, the usual parameters apply to Pool 1, with the mutuel field, the No. 24 or “all others” option, being listed as the 7-5 favorite. The field has closed as the Pool 1 favorite every year since Churchill first unveiled the Kentucky Derby Future Wager in 1999.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Game Winner leads the separate interests on the morning line at 8-1, followed by Improbable (10-1), Instagrand (10-1), and Coliseum (15-1), with the rest set at higher odds. Bob Baffert, a five-time Derby winner, trains seven of the 22 separate interests.
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The Kentucky Derby Sires Future Wager, with the mutuel field as a 5-1 morning-line choice, will coincide with Pool 1. This is the fourth year for the sires wager.
The separately listed horses Dunph, King for a Day, Signalman, and Knicks Go 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.
Last year, combined handle was $250,259 on Pool 1 and $42,953 on the sires futures. The eventual Derby winner, Justify, was part of the Pool 1 field, which closed as the 6-5 favorite, and his sire, Scat Daddy, was 26-1. Aggregate handle on all four pools toward the 2018 Derby was $1,893,353, breaking the former record of $1,665,990 set in 2005 (three pools). The record for handle in a single pool is $631,304, set in 2012.
Win and exacta wagering are available at a $2 minimum ($1 boxes or part-wheels are permitted), with odds and will-pays locked in only when the pool closes Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern following four days of wagering.
Pool 2 is set for Feb. 8-10, Pool 3 for March 8-10, and Pool 4 for April 5-7. The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Pool 3, as will the Oaks/Derby futures double.
Real-time odds and will-pays are available through various modes, including on television monitors at tracks and wagering outlets, as well as at kentuckyderby.com.
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.
The 145th Kentucky Derby will be run May 4, 2019.
| 2019 Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Horse | Trainer | Odds | |
| 1. | Cairo Cat | Ken McPeek | 30-1 |
| 2. | Code of Honor | Shug McGaughey | 20-1 |
| 3. | Coliseum | Bob Baffert | 15-1 |
| 4. | Dunph | Mike Maker | 30-1 |
| 5. | Epic Dreamer | Kelly Breen | 50-1 |
| 6. | Game Winner | Bob Baffert | 8-1 |
| 7. | Gunmetal Gray | Jerry Hollendorfer | 30-1 |
| 8. | Improbably | Bob Baffert | 10-1 |
| 9. | Instagrand | Jerry Hollendorfer | 10-1 |
| 10. | King for a Day | Todd Pletcher | 50-1 |
| 11. | Knicks Go | Ben Colebrook | 20-1 |
| 12. | Magic on Tap | Bob Baffert | 30-1 |
| 13. | Maxium Mischief | Robert Reid | 30-1 |
| 14. | Mucho | Bill Mott | 50-1 |
| 15. | Mucho Gusto | Bob Baffert | 20-1 |
| 16. | Network Effect | Chad Brown | 30-1 |
| 17. | Preamble | Rodolph Brisset | 50-1 |
| 18. | Roadster | Bob Baffert | 30-1 |
| 19. | Signalman | Ken McPeek | 50-1 |
| 20. | Tale of the Union | Bob Baffert | 30-1 |
| 21. | Uncle Benny | Jason Servis | 50-1 |
| 22. | Vekoma | George Weaver | 30-1 |
| 23. | Any filly | 30-1 | |
| 24. | Mutuel Field | 7-5 | |