Quality Road on top as Pool 3 opens

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Florida Derby winner Quality Road was a 5-1 favorite in the opening hours of betting into Pool 3 of the 2009 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opened Thursday at noon Eastern.

At 4:30 p.m., and after a relatively light handle of $11,885 in the win pool, Quality Road was favored over the mutuel field, the 24th or "all others" entry, which stood at 9-1. Then came Friesan Fire (10-1), I Want Revenge (10-1), The Pamplemousse (11-1), and Old Fashioned (12-1).

With several major Derby preps - the Wood Memorial, Santa Anita Derby, and Illinois Derby - to be run Saturday, the bulk of wagering is sure to follow in the ensuing hours before Pool 3 closes Sunday at 6 p.m. Odds are locked in only after the pool closes.

This is the second futures pool that exacta wagering also has been available on the Derby. As of 4:30 Thursday, only $3,972 had been bet on the exacta.

Last year, $291,835 was bet to win in Pool 3. The Pool 3 record of $533,973 was set in 2005.

Derby Pool 1 was held Feb. 12-15, and Pool 2 from March 12-15. The field closed as the favorite in both.

Real-time odds and exacta will-pays can be tracked on television monitors at racetracks and wagering outlets throughout North America, or on .

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