With Songbird out, Kentucky Oaks Future Wager offers tons of value
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – No one will ever know how Songbird would have fared Friday in the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, although many fans will forever maintain that she was a shoo-in.
Alas, stuff happens in horse racing, and while Songbird resumed light training Sunday at Santa Anita for Jerry Hollendorfer after being sidelined for three weeks with a fever, some bettors who took a stand against her in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager in March stand to benefit handsomely from her absence.
Songbird was a 7-10 favorite (or $3.40 on a $2 win bet) in the lone Oaks futures pool offered March 11-13. Except for Cathryn Sophia, whose futures odds will be close to her post-time odds Friday, most of the other Oaks entries are big overlays.
Including the lone also-eligible, Dothraki Queen, 10 of the 15 Oaks fillies were separately listed entries in the futures. In ascending order of odds, they are Cathryn Sophia (5-1), Rachel’s Valentina (13-1), Terra Promessa (26-1), Lewis Bay (34-1), Land Over Sea (41-1), Dothraki Queen (52-1), Mo d’Amour (53-1), Venus Valentine (82-1), Weep No More (85-1), and Dream Dance (128-1).
The remaining five Oaks starters are part of the mutuel field, which was 12-1. They are Go Maggie Go, Mokat, Royal Obsession, Paola Queen, and Taxable.
Win handle on the Oaks futures, which were first offered in 2003, was $71,080, with another $32,922 bet in exactas.
Exotic wagers abound
As usual, there is a multitude of exotic wagers available on Derby weekend. Along with the standard rolling doubles and pick threes and the familiar vertical wagers, the Friday menu also will include two pick five wagers (races 3-7 and 7-11), four pick fours (races 2-5, 4-7, 8-11, 10-13), a pick six (races 6-11), a super high five on the Oaks, and the ever-popular two-day wagers linking the Oaks with the Saturday features.
Last year, handle was $2,562,510 on the Oaks-Derby double and $830,113 on the Oaks-Woodford-Derby pick three.
Fans are reminded that 10-cent superfecta wagers are not available on Oaks and Derby Days. Track officials reason that mutuel lines here and elsewhere could become severely clogged without maintaining a $1 minimum.