Kentucky Derby starting gate at Churchill Downs.
With the Kentucky Derby still 23 weeks away, the pari-mutuel field of “All Other 3-Year-Old Colts and Geldings” closed as the 3-5 favorite in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) and Smile Happy was the 8-1 second choice.
Smile Happy, the 3 ¼-length winner of Saturday’s $400,000 Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., had his odds drop from 15-1 to 9-1 around 5 p.m. ET when Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, the Houston furniture store owner who campaigned Smile Happy’s sire Runhappy, bet $10,000 to win on the Kentucky-bred colt who is unbeaten in two starts. Additional money flowed late until the 6 p.m. ET deadline and his odds closed at 8-1.
Jack Christopher, the impressive G1 Champagne winner for trainer Chad Brown who was expected to be the $2 million G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile favorite before he was scratched, is expected to resume training in early 2022 following surgery to heal a left shin stress fracture.
Other horses who attracted mild interest from bettors: Breeders’ Futurity winner Rattle N Roll (21-1); G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and G1 American Pharoah runner-up Pappacap (23-1); G1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf runner-up Tiz the Bomb (24-1); and G1 Hopeful winner Gunite (25-1).
Horses in order of the public’s betting choice (with trainer, Pool 1 odds and $2 Win Will Pays): #24 All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2019 Foal Crop (3-5, $3.40); #18 Smile Happy (Kenny McPeek, Runhappy, 8-1, $19.20); #11 Jack Christopher (Chad Brown, Munnings, 10-1, $23.20); #17 Rattle N Roll (Kenny McPeek, Connect, 21-1, $45.80); #16 Pappacap (Mark Casse, Gun Runner, 23-1, $49.40); #19 Tiz the Bomb (Kenny McPeek, Hit It a Bomb, 24-1, $51); #9 Gunite (Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner, 25-1, $53.80); #3 Commandperformance (Todd Pletcher, Union Rags, 31-1, $64.80); #7 Giant Game (Dale Romans, Giant’s Causeway, 37-1, $77.40); #13 Mo Donegal (Todd Pletcher, Uncle Mo, 37-1, $77.60); #23 All Fillies from the 2019 Foal Crop (41-1, $85.20); #12 Major General (Todd Pletcher, Constitution, 43-1, $88.60); #10 Howling Time (Dale Romans, Not This Time, 43-1, $89.60); #2 Classic Causeway (Brian Lynch, Giant’s Causeway, 44-1, $90.20); #5 Epicenter (Steve Asmussen, Not This Time, 52-1, $106.80); #21 Varatti (Todd Pletcher, Into Mischief, 54-1, $111.80); #22 Zandon (Chad Brown, Upstart, 56-1, $114.40); #1 Ben Diesel (Dallas Stewart, Will Take Charge, 66-1, $134.20); #4 Double Thunder (Todd Pletcher, Super Saver, 72-1, $147); #15 Oviatt Class (Keith Desormeaux, Bernardini, 87-1, $177.20); #20 Trafalgar (Al Stall Jr., Lord Nelson, 98-1, $198.80); #8 Graphic Detail (Bill Mott, Practical Joke, 133-1, $269); #6 Forced Ranking (Chad Brown, Mastery, 138-1, $279.80); and #14 Osbourne (Ron Moquett, Tapiture, 155-1, $312.80).
Total handle for the Nov. 25-28 KDFW pool – the first of five scheduled wagering pools in advance of the 148th running of the G1 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on Saturday, May 7 – was $326,448 ($263,008 in the Win pool and $63,440 in Exactas), up 30.9% from last year’s $249,331 ($191,984 in the Win Pool and $57,347 in Exactas).
Inaugurated in 1999, the Kentucky Derby Future Wager has been offered for a 24th consecutive year, but this marks just the ninth time that Churchill Downs has hosted a KDFW pool on closing weekend of its Fall Meet.
This year’s early Derby betting menu also included the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager, which, for the seventh consecutive year, provided bettors with a unique opportunity to wager on select breeding stars and their entire crop of juveniles with the hope of winning next year’s Kentucky Derby.
“All Other Sires” at 7-2 and Runhappy at 7-1 attracted the most attention from bettors – and McIngvale, who plunged $3,000 on his prized sire around 5 p.m. to lower his odds from 17-1 to the second betting choice. Gun Runner progeny was the 9-1 third betting choice.
Sires in order of favoritism for the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager (Odds and $2 Win Will Pays): #24 “All Other Sires” (7-2, $9.60); #16 Runhappy (7-1, $16); #6 Gun Runner (9-1, $20); #15 Quality Road (10-1, $23.20); #7 Into Mischief (14-1, $30); #4 Empire Maker (16-1, $35.80); #3 Curlin (17-1, $37.80); #19 Tapit (18-1, $38); #10 Munnings (18-1, $39.80); #1 American Pharoah (20-1, $42.60); #11 Not This Time (23-1, $48.20); #5 Giant’s Causeway (24-1, $51); #21 Uncle Mo (25-1, $53.40); #22 Union Rags (29-1, $60); #9 Medaglia D’Oro (32-1, $66.60); #14 Practical Joke (33-1, $69.60); #2 Candy Ride (ARG) (37-1, $76.80); #12 Nyquist (40-1, $83.20); #18 Street Sense (41-1, $84); #23 Violence (45-1, $93.80); #20 Twirling Candy (48-1, $98.80); #13 Pioneerof the Nile (53-1, $108.40); #17 Speightstown (75-1, $152.40); and #8 Mastery (76-1, $155.80).
Total betting on the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager was a record $50,205 ($38,073 in the Win pool and $12,132 in the Exactas), up 5.5% from last year’s $47,567 ($33,269 in the Win pool and $14,298 in Exactas).
The KDFW and Sire Future Wager combined to handle $376,653, a 26.9% jump from last year’s $296,898.
The other Future Wager dates are set for Jan. 21-23 (Pool 2), Feb. 11-13 (Pool 3), March 11-13 (Pool 4), and March 31-April 2 (Pool 5). The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 4 on March 11-13.
Visit www.KentuckyDerby.com/FutureWager for more information.
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