Derby Future Wager: 2 horses are attracting a lot of money
Plenty of steam was expected to be generated by Smile Happy in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, the renowned sports gambler who owns the colt’s sire Runhappy, promised it.
Click here to see full list of 2022 Kentucky Derby hopefuls.
What was less predictable was the money that came in Saturday on his Kenny McPeek stablemate Tiz the Bomb.
Of the 24 betting choices in the pari-mutuel win pool, Smile Happy and Tiz the Bomb combined for 15 percent of the money bet on the second day of the KDFW, which closes Sunday at 6 p.m. EST.
Smile Happy, the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) winner whom McIngvale almost singlehandedly made the top individual betting choice in November’s Pool 1, went from 7-1 to 6-1 by the close of business Saturday night. He attracted $12,617 of the $168,745 that went into the win pool on day 2.
Tiz the Bomb, who finished second to Modern Games in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, was cut from 20-1 to 7-1 after luring $13,042 in Saturday wagers. Bettors are gambling that in the Feb. 5 running of the Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park, McPeek will successfully return him to the dirt, the surface on which he broke his maiden at Ellis Park on July 2.
The mutuel entry, composed of “all other 3-year-olds” than the 23 singled out for individual betting, went from even money to 2-1, bringing in $18,462 on Saturday. They would include horses such as Las Vegas betting favorite Corniche, who is trained by banned Hall of Famer Bob Baffert.
The two-day win handle totaled $168,745.
In the exacta market, Smile Happy over “all others” replaced the same combination in reverse order as the favorite, offering a potential will-pay of $75.80. The Saturday exacta handle was $23,947, making the two-day total $39,162.
This weekend’s KDFW pool is the second of five scheduled for the 2021-22 road to the Derby. The next three are Feb. 11-13, March 11-13 and March 31-April 2.
The Thursday-Saturday dates of the final pool this spring are not an error. Churchill Downs spokesman Darren Rogers explained, “We decided to close Pool 5 not at the traditional 6 p.m. (Sunday) but before the April 2 preps are run that day, sometime likely between the window of 4-5 p.m. or whenever the first prep is run that day. It makes it more of a true future wager.”
| KDFW Pool 2 | ML | Fri | Sat | Wagers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Chasing Tme | 20-1 | 11-1 | 13-1 | $9,356 |
| 2. Classic Causeway | 30-1 | 78-1 | 57-1 | $2,368 |
| 3. Commandperformance | 50-1 | 45-1 | 44-1 | $3,041 |
| 4. Courvoisier | 30-1 | 30-1 | 35-1 | $3,838 |
| 5. Dash Attack | 20-1 | 31-1 | 34-1 | $3,941 |
| 6. Emmanuel | 50-1 | 33-1 | 19-1 | $6,687 |
| 7. Epicenter | 15-1 | 34-1 | 25-1 | $5,224 |
| 8. Giant Game | 30-1 | 27-1 | 29-1 | $4,540 |
| 9. High Oak | 50-1 | 51-1 | 36-1 | $3,733 |
| 10. Jack Christopher | 10-1 | 12-1 | 13-1 | $9,663 |
| 11. Major General | 50-1 | 58-1 | 42-1 | $3,178 |
| 12. Make It Big | 50-1 | 99-1 | 88-1 | $1,558 |
| 13. Mo Donegal | 12-1 | 29-1 | 21-1 | $6,155 |
| 14. Pappacap | 20-1 | 18-1 | 20-1 | $6,516 |
| 15. Rattle N Roll | 30-1 | 34-1 | 31-1 | $4,229 |
| 16. Simplification | 30-1 | 75-1 | 64-1 | $2,127 |
| 17. Slow Down Andy | 15-1 | 24-1 | 25-1 | $5,241 |
| 18. Smile Happy | 8-1 | 9-1 | 6-1 | $17,997 |
| 19. Tiz the Bomb | 20-1 | 20-1 | 7-1 | $15,731 |
| 20. Trafalgar | 50-1 | 99-1 | 62-1 | $2,207 |
| 21. Varatti | 50-1 | 52-1 | 50-1 | $2,715 |
| 22. White Abarrio | 50-1 | 99-1 | 99-1 | $746 |
| 23. Zandon | 12-1 | 37-1 | 39-1 | $3,430 |
| 24. All other 3-year-olds | 7-5 | 1-1 | 2-1 | $44,515 |