Interests set for 2018 Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3
Ruis Racing LLC’s Bolt d’Oro (#3, 6-1), a winner in three of four races who will make his 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Grade 2, $400,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, and the pari-mutuel field of “All Other 3-Year-Olds” (#24, 6-1) were made 6-1 co-morning line favorites for Pool 3 of the 2018 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens its three-day run Friday-Sunday.
The KDFW Pool 3, which enables bettors to wager on 23 possible Kentucky Derby contenders plus a pari-mutuel field eight weeks in advance of the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented, will open Friday at noon (all times Eastern) and close Sunday at 6 p.m.
The Derby Future Wager will run concurrently with the lone pool of the 2018 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager. In addition to Win and Exacta betting, an Oaks/Derby Future Double has been added to the Future Wager betting menu for the first time. The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which includes the Oaks/Derby Future Double, will close a half-hour later than the KDFW at 6:30 p.m.
Bolt d’Oro suffered the only loss of his four-race career in a third-place run in last fall’s $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) at Del Mar, while the “All Others’ wagering consists of all 3-year-old Thoroughbreds other than the 23 individual horses on the Pool 3 wager roster.
Others expected to attract strong support in the three-day pool, according to odds maker Mike Battaglia’s morning line, include two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Todd Pletcher’s Holy Bull (GII) winner Audible (#1, 8-1); Fountain of Youth (GII) winner Promises Fulfilled (#19, 8-1), one of nine new wagering interests in Pool 3; and a pair of unbeaten hopes trained by four-time Kentucky Derby-winner Bob Baffert in Justify (#12, 8-1) and McKinzie (#15, 8-1).
Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3
Mike Battaglia’s morning line odds in parenthesis. Bolded interests are new for Pool 3.
1. Audible (8-1)
2. Avery Island (30-1)
3. Bolt d’Oro (6-1)
4. Bravazo (30-1)
5. Catholic Boy (30-1)
6. Combatant (50-1)
7. Flameaway (30-1)
8. Free Drop Billy (15-1)
9. Gold Town (30-1)
10. Good Magic (15-1)
11. Instilled Regard (30-1)
12. Justify (15-1)
13. Kanthaka (20-1)
14. Magnum Moon (301-)
15. McKinzie (8-1)
16. Mendelssohn (30-1)
17. My Boy Jack (30-1)
18. Noble Indy (50-1)
19. Promises Fulfilled (8-1)
20. Solomini (15-1)
21. Sporting Chance (30-1)
22. Strike Power (15-1)
23. Vino Rosso (50-1)
24. All Others (6-1)
Flameaway and Gold Town are not currently Triple Crown-nominated but their trainers have publicly indicated that they are intended to become eligible through the late nomination process.
No scratches or refunds are permitted in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the pool that a wagering interest will not compete in the May 5 race because of injury, illness or other circumstance, wagering on that interested will be suspended immediately.
The opening Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool of 2018 was conducted from Nov. 23-26, while Pool 2 ran from Feb. 9-11. The year’s fourth and final pool is set for April 6-8.