Jackie’s Warrior is Vegas favorite to win Kentucky Derby
Already favored to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile next week, Jackie’s Warrior has opened a clear top choice in the first domestic futures pool for the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
With a 4-for-4 record that includes two Grade 1 victories for trainer Steve Asmussen, Jackie’s Warrior carried odds of 15-1 in the opening odds posted this week by William Hill Nevada. The Maclean’s Music colt tops the list of 115 2-year-olds, 22 more than the bookmaker listed in its opening Derby odds this time last year.
Jackie’s Warrior’s odds are close to the 16-1 price showing for him at Bovada, the Costa Rican bookmaker that shortened him from a 33-1 opener in mid-September.
Also mirroring his Breeders’ Cup odds, Essential Quality is the second favorite for the Derby, listed at 20-1 by William Hill. Owned by Godolphin and trained by Brad Cox, the Tapit colt won this month’s Breeders’ Futurity (G1) over the same course and distance as the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland. He is 30-1 at Bovada.
Classier, the $775,000 Bob Baffert-trained colt that won his debut last weekend at Santa Anita, and Sittin On Go, Dale Romans’s Iroquois (G3) winner, are next at 35-1 at William Hill.
Reinvestment Risk, the maiden winner that finished second in Jackie’s Warrior’s Grade 1 victories, is the fifth choice at 40-1.
First in the Del Mar Futurity (G1), Dr. Schivel at 50-1 is the shortest-priced Derby candidate that will not be in the Breeders’ Cup. He was transferred from Luis Méndez to trainer Mark Glatt, who turned out the Violence colt with plans to resume his racing career this winter.
Jaxon Traveler, a 2-for-2 allowance winner for Asmussen, and Mutasaabeq, a contender in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, are 60-1 for the Derby.
William Hill made 15 horses shorter than 100-1. There are another 15 that are at least 200-1, the longest shot being Florida-based maiden winner Advance Cash at 250-1.
Both William Hill and Circa Sports, which is expected to open its own Derby futures in the coming weeks, continue to fill the void left when Johnny Avello left Wynn Las Vegas two years ago for DraftKings Sportsbook. Avello’s Wynn futures were widely considered a bellwether to the point that they were annually listed in the Kentucky Derby media guide as the source authority for its winter-book favorite.
European shops that usually offer Derby futures are late in launching them this fall.
As was the case this year, when the coronavirus pandemic forced a four-month postponement, “all bets are considered action regardless of where or when the race the 147th Kentucky Derby is run,” according to the William Hill rules.