Record Opening Derby Future Pool Closes with 'All Others,' Union Rags favored

Feb 13, 2012 John Asher

The opening pool of Churchill Downs’ 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager (“KDFW”) soared into new territory Sunday when three days of pari-mutuel future betting ended with record total wagering for a single pool.  But there was no change in one important aspect of Pool 1: the mutuel field, or “All Others” (#24), emerged as the strong favorite in the opening Derby Future pool for the 14^th consecutive year.

The betting total for first of three 2012 KDFW pools was $631,304 – which included $494,263 in win betting and $137,041 in exactas – when Pool 1 closed at 6 p.m. (Eastern) Sunday at racetracks, off-track betting centers, and at TwinSpires.com and other online wagering outlets. The three-day total eclipsed the $620,362 wagered during the four-day opening pool of 2005, the year in which the KDFW three-pool betting record of $1,665,990 was established. The 2005 Derby Future bet did not offer exacta wagering, which was introduced in 2009.

Kentucky Derby fans wagered $160,625 to win in this year’s first pool on the “All Others” betting interest, which made #24 a heavy 3-2 favorite.  Union Rags (#23), the runner-up to Hansen in both the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) and the Eclipse Award voting for champion 2-year-old of 2011, was a solid second choice throughout the pool and closed as the 7-1 individual fan favorite to win the 138^th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 5. Algorithms (#1) and El Padrino (#7), two of four Pool 1 betting interests trained by Todd Pletcher, were next at 12-1 and 16-1, respectively.  Hansen, coming off a runner-up finish to Algorithms in the Grade III Holy Bull, closed at 26-1.

Other individual horse with strong backing in KDFW Pool 1 included Norfolk (GI) winner Creative Cause (#4) at 17-1; Withers winner Alpha (#2) at 19-1; Fed Biz (#10), an impressive Santa Anita allowance winner on Thursday for three-time Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, who closed at 21-1; and Pletcher’s Gemologist (#11), unbeaten winner of Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Jockey Club (GII), was a 22-1 risk.

The Kentucky Derby Future Wager annually offers fans opportunities to bet on candidates for the Kentucky Derby, America’s greatest race and one of the world’s premier sports events, well in advance of the renewal of the famed 1 ¼-mile classic for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds at Churchill Downs.  Future Wager fans received Pool 1 odds on their respective horses that were in place at Sunday’s conclusion of Pool 1 wagering, and those odds could turn out to be significantly higher and more attractive than those available on the same horses on Kentucky Derby Day.  KDFW Pool 2 is scheduled for March 2-4, and the year’s third and final Derby Futures Pool is set for March 30-April 1.

All bets in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager are $2 minimum wagers, and there are no refunds on any wager placed during a Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool.

Final Pool 1 odds, exacta payouts, and other information on Kentucky Derby Future Wager are available at the official Kentucky Derby’s official event Web site at www.KentuckyDerby.com.