Ted Noffey, the undefeated winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, has been made the 6-1 individual favorite in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool opening on Thursday.
Ted Noffey, who is the likely 2-year-old champion, is one of 39 individual horses being offered in the pool, which will close on Sunday. The final entry, “all others foaled in 2023,” is the 9-5 favorite.
Churchill Downs will open the betting on next year’s Kentucky Derby with the first of its future wager pools on Wednesday, with betting closing just prior to the running of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Friday evening.
This year’s series awarding qualifying points for entry into next year's Kentucky Derby will include 36 races, starting with Saturday’s Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs, according to a schedule released Monday by track personnel.
Twenty-one of the races have been categorized in the “prep season” running from Sept. 13 to Feb. 21, with most awarding 10 or 20 points to the winner. The exception is the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, which awards 30 points to the winner.
Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty officially got on the work tab about a year ago and made his first start last August, but Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s association with the family goes back more than a quarter-century. He put the tack on great-granddam Sluice for her career debut in July 2000 and has since handled a few generations of this family.
“It’s really kind of a neat thing to be able to train those families and those generations of horses,” Mott said. “It might be telling my age a little bit, but it really makes it pretty special.”
Regardless of what happens the rest of the way with the Triple Crown and other major spring events, sires Into Mischief and Medaglia d’Oro exit the first weekend in May having already pulled off their own historic triples in the classics.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Though Sovereignty came out of Saturday’s Kentucky Derby victory in good shape - save a superficial scrape on his right front pastern - he is far from definite to move on to Pimlico and pursue the Triple Crown at the Preakness Stakes in two weeks, his connections said Sunday morning.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It would have been easy for Journalism's connections to make excuses after his second-place finish as the 3-1 favorite in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. After all, not only had Journalism never competed over a wet racetrack prior to the race, he had never even stepped foot on an "off" track at any point in his career before the walkover for the Derby.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Bill Mott didn’t have to wait 22 minutes for this Kentucky Derby victory. And the decades-long quest for Kentucky Derby success is over for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Journalism was the mild favorite Friday evening in early wagering on the Kentucky Derby.
With about $4.5 million in the pool, Journalism, who scored a smashing win making his 3-year-old debut in the San Felipe Stakes and overcame trouble winning the Santa Anita Derby, was favored at 7-2. But will-pays for the Oaks-Derby double suggest Journalism will go to post a shorter price than that.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It was Derby déjà vu all over again for Mike Repole and Todd Pletcher.
Grande, the Wood Memorial runner-up, was scratched from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby by Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation veterinarians due to a cracked heel on his right front foot.
It was two years ago that Repole-owned, Pletcher-trained Forte, the morning-line favorite for the Derby, was scratched the morning of the race. In 2011, Repole and Pletcher had to scratch favorite Uncle Mo the day before the race due to an intestinal issue.
