The future is now for handicappers bold enough to make an early bet on the Kentucky Derby. Pool 1 of the Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby Futures wager opened at noon Eastern on Friday and will close at 6 p.m. on Sunday.

As always, 23 horses have been chosen to be individual betting interests, and the 24th option is the field, which is a bet on all of the other 3-year-olds. For those who believe that selecting the winner of the May 5 Kentucky Derby this far in advance isn’t enough of a challenge, exacta wagering is also available.

Editor’s Note: Countdown to the Crown returns for a seventh season online as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene.

Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 6 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes. You can access daily updates and interactive features at Countdowntothecrown.com as well.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Fed Biz, one of trainer Bob Baffert's most promising 3-year-olds this year, won his debut against winners in an optional claimer over a mile at Santa Anita on Thursday.

A colt by Giant's Causeway owned by Kaleem Shah, Fed Biz had an ideal trip to win by 5 3/4 lengths against four overmatched rivals. Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Fed Biz ($3.40) stalked pacesetter Consulado to early stretch, took the lead on the outside and was hand-ridden to finish. Fed Biz ran a mile in 1:34.74. Consulado finished second, 6 1/2 lengths clear of third-place Blueskiesnrainbows.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Jonathan Sheppard has been non-committal about Ever So Lucky’s status as a Kentucky Derby candidate. But if he does get to the Derby, Ever So Lucky will get there via a somewhat unconventional route after making his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s seven-furlong Hutcheson Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

WHO’S HOT

OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Alpha, winner of the Grade 3 Withers as well as the Count Fleet Stakes here this winter, will "most likely" skip next month's Gotham Stakes and make his next start in the Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial here on April 7, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said Wednesday.

Alpha was scheduled to leave New York by van on Thursday morning and arrive at the Palm Meadows training center in south Florida on Friday to continue training.

Union Rags is the slight favorite over Algorithms in the first edition of Daily Racing Form ’s Derby Watch for 2012, and, among individual entrants in Pool 1 of this weekend’s Kentucky Derby Future Wager, Algorithms is slightly favored over Union Rags. Box that exacta, and you’ve tied up the two horses currently viewed as the leading contenders for this year’s Derby, on May 5 at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As legendary as he has become, Barbaro was something of an outsider at 19-1 in Pool 1 of the 2006 Kentucky Derby Future Wager before going on to win.

[MORE: PPs for Future Wager horses]

Michael Matz, who trained Barbaro and trains arguably the top separately listed entry in the 2012 Derby Future Wager in Union Rags, said he remembers nothing about the future wager that year.

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Discreet Dancer, whose status for the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth may be in jeopardy after he spiked a temperature on Monday, isn’t the only Kentucky Derby prospect in the area a little under the weather these days. So is Grade 1 winner Dullahan, who is battling a cough, said his trainer, Dale Romans.

Dullahan has not worked in nearly a month, with his last official work an easy five furlongs in 1:01.40 at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 14. Dullahan has not started since finishing a late-running fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

The first of three pools in the 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will open Friday at noon Eastern at tracks and wagering outlets throughout North America.

The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” wagering option, most likely will be favored again this year, just at it has been for Pool 1 in every year since Churchill Downs began offering parimutuel futures in 1999. Union Rags will be pegged as the top separate interest on the morning line when the Pool 1 lineup is released Wednesday afternoon.