Kentucky Derby Blog

The second pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed on Sunday with the mutuel field of all others not individually listed favored at 9-2 odds.

Undefeated allowance winner Dunkirk, who opened at 12-1, was the favorite among individual betting interests at 7-1. Dunkirk was followed by Old Fashioned and Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Friesan Fire at 8-1 and Sham Stakes (G3) winner The Pamplemousse at 9-1.

Total handle for the win pool was $276,403, the least amount wagered in pool two since future wagering began in 1999. Last year, $325,306 was wagered in the second pool.

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2

* New Wagering Interest in Pool 2 (N) - Not nominated to Triple Crown

Kentucky Oaks Future Wager Pool

With his mind halfway on the job at hand, Pioneerof the Nile extended his stakes-winning streak to three races in Saturday’s $200,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park.

The victory puts Pioneerof the Nile on course for a first-time matchup with two-time stakes winner The Pamplemousse in the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 4.

In the Grade 2 San Felipe, Pioneerof the Nile ran 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.35, winning by 1 1/4 lengths over Feisty Suances. It appeared as if the winning margin would be much greater in early stretch when Pioneerof the Nile reached the front, but he needed reminders from jockey Garrett Gomez through the stretch.

Pioneerof the Nile has won 4 of 7 starts and $784,200 for Zayat Stables. Trained by Bob Baffert, Pioneerof the Nile is now unbeaten in his last three starts, a streak that includes the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity in December and the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes last month. All three races have been over 1 1/16 miles.

Win Willy, a 56-1 shot, handed Old Fashioned the first loss of his career when he outfought the heavy favorite in the final eighth of a mile to win the $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park March 14.

Previously unbeaten Old Fashioned was a 2-5 shot as the nine-horse field entered the starting gate, and he appeared to be in control after easily passing Silver City on the second turn. Win Willy then came up on the outside, seemingly out of nowhere, and passed Old Fashioned with room to spare.

Win Willy, trained by McLean Robertson and with Cliff Berry aboard, paid $115.60 on a $2 win bet. Old Fashioned held on for second, and Poltergeist was third.

Old Fashioned might have been the overall favorite for the Kentucky Derby before this race. He hadn’t lost in four career starts, including the Southwest at Oaklawn last month. This race began almost exactly as that one had, with Silver City moving to the front and Old Fashioned chasing close behind. The first quarter-mile was over in 22.54 seconds, a quick pace which might have cost the initial leaders down the stretch.

Friesan Fire took the Grade 2, $600,000 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 14, 2009. He was good in the Lecomte on January 10, better in the Risen Star on February 7, and sensational in the Louisiana Derby.

Friesan Fire completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.46 on a track that had turned to slop following showers that fell throughout most of the day, sometimes heavily. Friesan Fire had finished third in his only previous race on an off track, in the Belmont Futurity last September, in only his second career start.

Three horses were 5-1 co-favorites in the second of four days of wagering into Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, although the bulk of action was likely to come after four major Derby preps were run Saturday.

As of 5:15 p.m. EST on Friday, and on $44,718 of handle in the win pool, the three 5-1 favorites were Dunkirk, Old Fashioned, and The Pamplemousse. The mutuel field was next at 8-1, followed by I Want Revenge at 10-1.

At the same time, after $13,240 in the exacta pool, the lowest $2 exacta will-pay was $67.80 on the California combination of I Want Revenge over The Pamplemousse (12-21). This is the first time since Churchill Downs first began offering parimutuel futures in 1999 that exacta wagering has been available.

Meanwhile, in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which is being offered only once this year, Rachel Alexandra was the 5-2 favorite, followed by Justwhistlindixie (3-1), Stardom Bound (9-2), and the field (9-1). Handle on the win-only Oaks futures was $9,736.

The Derby futures close Sunday at 6 p.m. EST, with the Oaks closing 30 minutes later.

Derby Pool 1 was held February 12-15, and Pool 3 will run April 2-5.

The John Battaglia Memorial Stakes, which served as a prep for the $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes (G2) on March 21, did not attract a strong field.  Proceed Bee made a sweeping move past the leaders, then held favored Parade Clown at bay to post a mild upset.

With Rodney Prescott aboard, Proceed Bee posted the second stakes victory of his six-race career, having captured the Grand Canyon on the Churchill Downs turf in November. Terry Gestes trains the Bernstein colt at Oaklawn Park for former Ralston Purina executive Bill Stiritz.

Proceed Bee returned $10.40 as third choice in a field of seven 3-year-olds after finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:47.49 over Polytrack.

Proceed Bee began his career by winning an Arlington maiden race and a Hawthorne allowance. He won the Grand Canyon in his season finale, then was fifth in the Jan. 19 Smarty Jones at Oaklawn in his only prior start this year.

The second of three future pools for the Kentucky Derby, which for the first time will feature exacta wagering, opens on Thursday at noon EDT.

The addition of exacta wagering is the first major change in the Kentucky Derby future pool since the wager was first introduced in 1999.

Pool 2 will feature 24 wagering interests, 23 horses, and a mutuel field that includes all other three-year-olds. Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia tabbed the mutuel field and multiple graded stakes winner Old Fashioned as the 8-to-1 morning-line favorites for Pool 2, which closes at 6 p.m. EDT on Sunday.

2009 Kentucky Derby Future Wager—Pool 2

No.   Horse               ML odds
1.    Bear's Rocket*        50-1
2.    Beethoven             30-1
3.    Big Drama             30-1
4.    Chocolate Candy       30-1
5.    Desert Party*         30-1
6.    Dunkirk*              12-1
7.    Flying Pegasus        20-1
8.    Friesan Fire          12-1
9.    General Quarters*     30-1
10.   Giant Oak             20-1
11.   Hello Broadway        30-1
12.   I Want Revenge        10-1
13.   Imperial Council*     20-1
14.   Old Fashioned          8-1
15.   Papa Clem             15-1
16.   Patena                15-1
17.   Pioneerof the Nile    10-1
18.   Quality Road (N)*     12-1
19.   Silver City           30-1
20.   Take the Points*      30-1
21.   The Pamplemousse      10-1
22.   Theregoesjojo*        15-1
23.   West Side Bernie      30-1
24.   Mutuel Field            8-1

* - New wagering interest in Pool 2
(N) - Not nominated to Triple Crown

I Want Revenge, a 3-year-old colt trained by Jeff Mullins, came into the race with only one win in six starts on synthetic surfaces in California.

“He struggled on the synthetic, and we always thought he’d run better on the dirt,” David Lanzman, the owner, said in the winner’s circle.

The jockey Joe Talamo and I Want Revenge stayed with the pacesetter Mr. Fantasy until the top of the stretch.

“I had so much horse the whole way around,” Talamo said.

Mr. Fantasy, who came into the race with wins in two starts and went off as the 2-1 favorite, finished third, followed by Masala, Russell Road, Axel Foley, Naos, Haynesfield and Giant Ryan. Haynesfield, who came into the Gotham on a four-race winning streak, never threatened.

The winning time was 1 minute 42.65 seconds for the mile and a sixteenth on the fast track.

I Want Revenge earned $150,000 from the $250,000 purse, boosting his earnings to $366,000. He paid $8.30 on a $2 bet to win.

Churchill Downs has announced a series of groundbreaking new rules and policies designed to enhance the safety and welfare of jockeys and horses. These measures will be in place at Churchill Downs racetrack in advance of the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 2, and will include unprecedented standardized third-party testing of track surfaces and comprehensive testing of all winning horses for more than 100 prohibited drugs.

The key safety initiatives that will be in place at Churchill Downs prior to Kentucky Derby 135 are as follows:
- Independent, standardized third-party testing and monitoring of track surfaces;
- “Supertesting” of all winning horses for more than 100 performance-enhancing drugs;
- Age restrictions requiring Thoroughbreds to be at least 24 calendar months of age before becoming eligible to race;
- The freezing and storage of equine blood and urine samples to allow for retrospective testing;
- The banning of steroids;
- Limits on the number of horses allowed to compete in certain races;
- The prohibition of “milkshaking”, which results in excessive levels of total carbon dioxide in Thoroughbred racehorses;
- Prohibiting the transport of horses from CDI facilities for slaughter;
- The banning of unsafe horseshoes, including front shoe toe grabs longer than two millimeters;
- The use of low-impact riding whips with limited usage rules;
- The presence of on-site medical personnel, equipment, and state-of-the-art equine ambulances;
- Immediate online access to jockey medical histories for emergency medical personnel;
- $1 million in catastrophic injury insurance coverage for jockeys;
- Mandatory and uniform reporting of equine injuries to the Equine Injury Database System, thereby assisting in the compilation of statistics and trends to improve safety conditions around the country;
- A professionally designed and installed safety rail on the inside of the dirt course;
- Mandatory usage by all jockeys, exercise riders and other on-track personnel of safety vests and safety helmets that meet internationally acknowledged quality standards;
- 3/8-inch foam padding on all parts of the starting gates;
- Significant financial support for equine retirement programs;
- Inspection of all horses by regulatory veterinarians prior to and following all races;
- Review of security procedures around barns and other racetrack backstretch areas;
- Continued maintenance of protocols for the treatment of horses that have been injured during racing or training, to ensure the most humane treatment possible; and
- Mandatory, independent, and complete necropsies of any horse that dies as a result of an injury sustained while racing or training at Churchill Downs.

For more information about the Churchill Downs “Safety from Start to Finish” initiative, please visit the Safety Center at Gate 17 at Churchill Downs racetrack, or go to www.churchilldowns.com/safety.

Odds-on favorite The Pamplemousse once again used a front running trip Saturday to capture the $200,000 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. The 1 1/8 mile Sham is a prep for the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, April 4.

Last year the Sham was won by Colonel John who would later win the Santa Anita Derby and Travers Stakes. Four years ago Giacomo finished third before winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby.

Racing on Santa Anita’s all-weather surface, The Pamplemousse stopped the timer at 1:47.86.

The Pamplemousse paid $3.00, $2.60 and $2.40. Take the Points returned $4.00 and $3.60, and Mr. Hot Stuff paid $3.60 to show.