The opening pool of Churchill Downs’s Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed at 6 p.m. EST on February 15 with few surprises as the mutuel field of all other three-year-olds not individually listed closed as the 2-to-1 favorite.

The field has been the favorite in the first pool for each of the 11 years Churchill has offered the wager.

This year’s initial pool attracted $478,721 in handle, a 9% increase compared with last year but still the second-lowest total since 2001. Total handle for the future wager since its inception in 1999 has now surpassed $13-million.

Impressive performances by Gulf News United Arab Emirates Two Thousand Guineas (UAE-G3) winner Desert Party and runner-up Regal Ransom, Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) winner General Quarters, and allowance winners Captain Cherokee and Imperial Council, coupled with two graded stakes races for three-year-olds scheduled for February 16, probably helped make the field the favorite.

Undefeated Old Fashioned, last year’s Remsen Stakes (G2) winner and a finalist for champion two-year-old male, was entered in the Southwest Stakes (G3) on President’s Day at Oaklawn Park. He closed as the 7-to-1 favorite among the 23 horses listed individually.

Last year’s two-year-old champions, male Midshipman and filly Stardom Bound closed at 19-to-1 and 22-to-1, respectively. The only other horses at less than 23-to-1 were Risen Star Stakes (G3) winner Friesan Fire at 18-to-1, Lecomte Stakes (G3) runner-up (to Friesan Fire) Patena at 22-to-1, and Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G2) winner Pioneerof the Nile at 13-to-1.

Churchill will offer two other future wagers leading up to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) on May 2 in Louisville. Pool 2 runs from March 12 through March 15 and Pool 3 runs from April 2 through April 5. Both pools will feature exacta wagering, and Pool 2 also will include a separate pool for future wagering on the Kentucky Oaks (G1), which is slated for May 1.
Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1
Number Wagering interest Final Odds
1. Beethoven 31-1
2. Big Drama 48-1
3. Capt. Candyman Can (g) 25-1
4. Chocolate Candy 28-1
5. Flying Pegasus 28-1
6. Friesan Fire 18-1
7. Giant Oak 24-1
8. Haynesfield 32-1
9. Hello Broadway 30-1
10. I Want Revenge 54-1
11. Midshipman 19-1
12. Notonthesamepage 40-1
13. Old Fashioned 7-1
14. Papa Clem 44-1
15. Patena 22-1
16. Pioneerof the Nile 13-1
17. Silver City 35-1
18. Stardom Bound (f) 22-1
19. Taqarub 46-1
20. The Pamplemousse 29-1
21. This Ones for Phil(g)* 44-1
22. Vineyard Haven 36-1
23. West Side Bernie 40-1
24. Mutuel Field (“All Others”) 2-1

Total wagering: $478,721

(f) – filly, (g) – gelding, * – not nominated to Triple Crown