Midway through the second of four days of wagering into Pool 1 of the , the mutuel field continued to be a heavy favorite over the other 23 wagering options.
As of 5 p.m. Eastern on Friday, the field was the 2-5 favorite over Master David (15-1), Lion Heart (16-1), Eurosilver (21-1), and Action This Day (25-1). Handle was just over $138,000.
The field has been the heavy favorite since minutes after Pool 1 opened Thursday. The field drew $70,081 from the first-day handle of $101,127.
The opening odds in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager took on a decidedly lopsided tilt when $30,000 was bet on the mutuel field just minutes after wagering opened Thursday.
According to Churchill Downs officials, one or more people betting through a hub in Maine accounted for "most of" the big wager shortly after windows opened at noon Eastern on Thursday. Maine serves as the hub for numerous offshore and Internet wagering sites.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Nick Zito is a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, and he enters this year's Derby chase in the best position of any trainer in the country. He has four prospects in Birdstone, El Prado Rob, Eurosilver, and The Cliff's Edge, yet experience has taught Zito that it's a long way from mid-February in Florida to the first Saturday in May in Kentucky.
WHO'S HOT
Trainers Richard Mandella and Nick Zito each have three runners among the top 25 in the inaugural 2004 edition of Derby Watch. Zito's horse Eurosilver is the 8-1 favorite on the future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form's national handicapper. Birdstone, another Zito trainee, is the co-second choice at 10-1. Zito also has The Cliff's Edge, a 15-1 shot. Mandella's trio are champion Action This Day (12-1), Minister Eric (25-1), and Spellbinder (40-1).
WHO'S NOT
Ruler's Court, the winner of the Norfolk Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 5, will miss the 2004 Kentucky Derby after injuring a knee. Godolphin, which owns the colt, made the announcement Friday.
The injury will prevent Ruler's Court from starting in the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby in Dubai on March 27, a race Godolphin has used as a prep for its Kentucky Derby hopefuls.
No further details of the injury were released.
Simon Crisford, racing manager for Godolphin, said in a statement, "All future plans are on hold."
Future wagering on the Kentucky Oaks, which was introduced this year and which produced a one-pool, four-day handle of $117,368, will be expanded in 2004 to the same series of three four-day betting periods as the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
The dates for the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks future wagers were announced Tuesday by Churchill Downs as follows: Pool 1, Feb. 12-15; Pool 2, March 11-14; and Pool 3, April 1-4.
Betting on the future wagers begins at noon Eastern each day of the betting period and concludes on Sundays at 6:30 p.m.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Churchill Downs stewards and the Kentucky Racing Commission cleared jockey Jose Santos on Monday of any wrongdoing in winning the 129th Kentucky Derby, leading an exhilarated Santos to proclaim that he is "thankful the nightmare is over."
All-sources handle on Saturday's Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs was a record $87,663,663, a 10.8 percent increase over last year.
Total handle on the Derby - and on Churchill's Derby card - has risen for 13 consecutive years, with the figures tripling over that time. In 1989, the last year that Derby handle fell, total betting on the race was $29,840,582.
NBC-TV did another proficient job with its 90-minute broadcast of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, but the impact of the show was deadened by a handful of questions that went unanswered. In fact, the questions were never asked.
Questions should have been posed to Bobby Frankel, the trainer of two horses in the race, including the beaten favorite, Empire Maker. But NBC's reporters never collared Frankel after the race was over, even though a camera crew was assigned to the trainer as he watched the race from an unorthodox spot in Churchill's paddock.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Not many trainers have ever had a Saturday like Paul McGee, who went from winning a Grade 1 to becoming a hot walker inside an hour last weekend at Churchill Downs.
McGee won the richest race of his career when Honor in War pulled an upset in the $400,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. But instead of heading to the clubhouse for champagne, McGee quickly excused himself to return to the stables. He had promised his brother-in-law Ron Ellis that he would help him prepare Atswhatimtalknbout for the Kentucky Derby, which was an hour away.
