Near-Record Kentucky Derby Futures Favor 'All Others,' Scramble for Favored Individual

Feb 11, 2013 John Asher

The 2013 version of Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Derby Future Wager (“KDFW”) is off to a rousing start after its opening pool generated near-record betting, concluded  with the expected emergence of the popular “All Others” (#24) betting interest as its heavy favorite and featured a wild scramble among seven horses that determined the identity of the individual Thoroughbred that is, for now, a very narrow “people’s choice” to win the  139^th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum Brands (Grade I) on Saturday, May 4.

When wagering in the three-day pool concluded at 6 p.m. (all times Eastern) on Sunday, Feb. 10, total betting in KDFW Pool 1 had soared to a near-record $621,493. It was the second-highest single-pool total in the bet’s 15-year history.  Of that total, $151,611 had been wagered on “All Others,” also known as the mutuel field, which made that betting interest a strong 8-5 favorite among the pool’s 24 betting interests.

“All Others” consists of all 3-year-old Thoroughbreds other than the 23 individual horses listed on each KDFW pool’s roster of betting interests. The mutuel field has been favored every opening pool since the introduction of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager in 1999.

Total betting in the first of three 2013 Kentucky Derby Futures pools included “win” wagering of $481,632 and $139,861 in exacta bets.  Betting in the pool, which opened at noon on Friday, Feb. 8, is second only to last year’s $631,304.  The 2013 Pool 1 total surpassed the previous runner-up – the $620,362 wagered during the opening pool of 2005 – in the final minutes of Sunday’s betting.  The 2005 total was recorded when the wager featured “win” betting only. Exacta betting was added in 2009.

Fans wagered on the KDFW pool at racetracks and OTB’s across North America and via TwinSpires.com and other advance deposit wagering platforms.  The Pool 1 wagering total flirted with record status despite the massive blizzard and winter storm that shuttered tracks and betting outlets in the Northeast from Friday afternoon through the weekend.

While the status of “All Others” as the pool’s overall favorite was never in doubt, the designation of favored individual horse was narrowly earned by unbeaten Verrazano (#20), one of seven Pool 1 horses trained by 2010 Kentucky Derby winner Todd Pletcher. Verrazano closed at 11-1 to edge the Bob Baffert-trained Flashback, the Robert B. Lewis (GII) winner who attracted strong Sunday support to emerge as the 12-1 third choice.

One of four Pool 1 horses trained by the three-time Derby-winner Baffert, Flashback had been a 22-1 risk after Friday’s KDFW opening session.

Close behind Flashback at 13-1 was a trio that included Itsmyluckyday (#11), who handed reigning 2-year-old champion and Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) winner Shanghai Bobby (#17) his only defeat in the Holy Bull (GIII) at Gulfstream Park, and the Pletcher-trained duo of CashCall Futurity (GI) winner Violence (#21) and Revolutionary (#16), winner of the recent Withers (GIII) at Aqueduct.  Champion Shanghai Bobby, also trained by Pletcher, closed at 14-1 and Remsen (GII) runner-up Normandy Invasion (#13) was a 15-1 risk at Sunday evening’s conclusion of Pool 1 betting.

The Kentucky Derby Future Wager offers fans an opportunity to bet on potential contenders for the America’s greatest race well in advance of the event at odds that could be significantly more attractive than those available on Kentucky Derby Day.  Each KDFW pool offers $2 minimum win betting and exacta wagering, with the latter available in the form of $2 minimum straight exacta bets or $1-minimum exacta boxes and part-wheels. No scratches or betting refunds are permitted in the Derby Future Wager, but betting on an individual horse will be suspended immediately if Churchill Downs determines that an injury, illness or other circumstance revealed or discovered during a KDFW pool would prevent that horse from competing in the Kentucky Derby.

For a list of Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1 closing odds and will-pays, click here..

A printable PDF file of Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1 exacta will-pays is available here.

Two pools remain in the 2013 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.  Pool 2 is set for March 1-3 and the year’s final pool is scheduled for March 22-24. Information on the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Derby Future Wager is available online at the official event Web site at www.KentuckyDerby.com. KDFW real-time odds and BRISNET “Ultimate Past Performances” for all Future Wager betting interests are available free of charge on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Web page.