Big Brown was a slight favorite over Pyro during the second of four days in Pool 3 of the 2008 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
As of 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Friday, Big Brown was holding at 3-1, followed by Pyro at 7-2, War Pass at 9-1, and El Gato Malo at 14-1. Handle was $46,770, although with three Derby preps slated for Saturday - the Wood Memorial, Illinois Derby, and Santa Anita Derby - surely a majority of fans had yet to make their bets. Final odds are not locked in until Sunday at 6 p.m.
Pyro and Big Brown attracted easily the most action during the early hours of the third and final pool of the 2008 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opened Thursday at racetracks and wagering outlets throughout North America.
As of 4:30 p.m. Eastern, Pyro was the 2-1 favorite over Big Brown at 5-2. Handle of $17,314 was relatively light, as expected, since many of the 23 separately listed wagering interests are scheduled to be in action Saturday in three Derby preps: the Wood Memorial, Illinois Derby, and Santa Anita Derby. Odds are not locked in until Sunday at 6 p.m.
The trainers of Southern California-based Kentucky Derby prospects are facing a difficult decision this month: whether to have their horses' last Derby prep on a synthetic surface, or take a leap into the great unknown now and race on dirt, the surface over which the Derby is run.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - WinStar Farm is hoping a change in philosophy will result in a change of luck when it comes to the Kentucky Derby.
In 2006 and 2007, WinStar got three or more prep races into its trio of Derby runners. After racing three times before the Derby, including a well-beaten fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes, Bluegrass Cat finished second to Barbaro in 2006. Last year, Any Given Saturday finished eighth in the Derby after having three prep races, and Cowtown Cat finished last of 20 in what was his fifth start of the year.
When someone tells you it's not about the money, rest assured, it's about the money. Cash is king, especially when it comes to the Kentucky Derby, because if you've got cash, you're a smash.
Despite the overpowering victory by Big Brown in the Florida Derby on Saturday, and the continued excellence of Pyro this spring, it appears inevitable that more than 20 horses will be entered in the May 3 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. With the Derby just a month away, the list of prospective runners in the Derby still numbers more than 40.
For a horse who has won just two races six months apart, Big Brown has become the buzz horse of this year's Kentucky Derby. Off those two wins, including a victory March 5 in a first-level allowance race at Gulfstream Park, he has been installed as the morning-line favorite for the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby on Saturday at Gulfstream.
Tim Ritchey settled in to watch the Tampa Bay Derby last Saturday, and as the race unfolded, he had a chilling flashback to three years ago. Same weekend, seven weeks out from the Kentucky Derby. Same setup, an odds-on favorite against a handful of seemingly overmatched rivals going 1 1/16 miles in the second of three scheduled preps for the Derby. And the same shocking result, a last-place finish.
"I was thinking about Afleet Alex in the Rebel when I watched War Pass," Ritchey said.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Being on the backstretch, training horses, it's the life Kathy Walsh was born into, the life she once walked away from, and the life to which she came running back. It's where she belongs. To those who have not come across her while she was based at Longacres, the San Francisco Bay area, Canterbury Downs, and now Hollywood Park, it might be hard to imagine the impact Walsh has had on countless women on the racetrack. Though she sloughs it off, Walsh is an icon, a trailblazer, much like Billie Jean King in tennis.
Pyro and Visionaire, who won the biggest Kentucky Derby prep races of this past weekend, are both headed to the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes on April 12 at Keeneland, their connections said Monday. And the Blue Grass took on added significance on Monday when trainer Nick Zito said that it was likely going to be the final Kentucky Derby prep for Cool Coal Man, the winner of the Fountain of Youth Stakes.
The Blue Grass was used last year by Street Sense as his final tune-up before his victory in the Derby. He finished second in the Blue Grass.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Pyro closed Sunday as the 4-1 favorite in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which drew its smallest handle in eight years.
After hovering at 6-1 for the first 2 1/2 days of the four-day wager, Pyro drew solid action after his three-length victory in Saturday's Louisiana Derby at the Fair Grounds, closing as a slight choice over War Pass (9-2) and the mutuel field (6-1), the 24th or "all others" option.
Rounding out the top choices were Denis of Cork (12-1), El Gato Malo (15-1), Court Vision (16-1), Colonel John (17-1), and Elysium Fields (17-1).
