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.

If future-book wagering on the Kentucky Derby in Las Vegas weren’t virtually extinct, you could be certain that the current favorite for the 2019 Derby would be Game Winner.

As well he should be. And yes, that would be the case even after the sensational debut Saturday at Del Mar by Bob Baffert barnmate Coliseum, who delivered a performance that sparked enormous buzz in the American racing community.

The moment Game Winner crossed the wire first in the Nov. 2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Churchill, the early Kentucky Derby favorite was clearly established. Lengths the best, overcoming a wide trip and midstretch bumping, he showed off all the tools that suggest that, health permitting, he will be a force on the first Saturday in May.

Grade 1, $500,000 Breeders’ Futurity; 1 1/16 miles; Keeneland; Oct. 6, 2018
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Knicks Go, by Paynter

Trainer: Ben Colebrook

Jockey: Albin Jimenez

Owner: KRA Stud Farm

Beyer Speed Figure: 81

Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne Stakes, one mile, Belmont Park, Oct. 6, 2018
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Complexity, by Maclean’s Music
Trainer: Chad Brown
Jockey: Jose Ortiz
Owner: Klaravich Stables
Beyer Speed Figure: 94

Grade 3, $150,000 Iroquois Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Churchill Downs, Sept. 15, 2018
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Cairo Cat, by Cairo Prince
Trainer: Kenny McPeek
Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
Owner: Walking L Thoroughbreds LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 80

Grade 1, $300,000 American Pharoah Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Santa Anita, Sept. 29, 2018
(10 Derby qualifying points for a win, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)

Winner: Game Winner, by Candy Ride
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Jockey: Joel Rosario
Owner: Gary and Mary West
Beyer Speed Figure: 97

Equibase has issued a revised chart of the Kentucky Derby to amend the finish-line margins posted by several horses in the field, including a 10-length change to the margin between Solomini, who finished 10th in the race, and the 11^th-place horse, Firenze Fire.

Patrick and Frank McGoey are big believers in karma.

“I believe in the racing gods,” said Patrick after winning the 2018 Kentucky Derby Betting Challenge. “If you do the right thing, it pays off.”

Patrick knows a little something about good payoffs. The two-time winner of the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge built his bankroll to $99,640 this weekend, netting an additional $100,000 in prize money plus an entry to bid to become a three-time winner at the BCBC (nobody else even has two).

There’s a song from “The Crow,” by Jane Siberry, called “It Can’t Rain All the Time,” which in 2019 should become the official Kentucky Derby anthem. It’s not much of a sing-along, but it’s a lot better than trying to keep a straight face through lyrics like “… the sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home.”