Dates for the three pools of Churchill Downs’ 2009 Kentucky Derby Future
Wager are set and a single pool will be offered in each of the three months
preceding the 135th renewal of the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby (G1) on
May 2. Meanwhile, the seven-year-old Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will return to a single pool format in 2009, and that pool will run concurrent
with the Derby Future pool offered in March.
Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager is set for February 12-15, Pool 2
is scheduled for March 12-15 and the third and final pool will be conducted
April 2-5. Wagering on the lone 2009 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager is set for March
12-15. The Oaks Future bet was conducted in a single pool in its first year in
2003, but had been offered in a three-pool format in each the past five years.
Dates for the four-day pools for the two Churchill Downs future bets were
approved Tuesday by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
As in past years, wagering on each of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools
will open at noon (EST) on the first day of the pool’s Thursday-Sunday run.
Betting will conclude in the three Derby pools will conclude at 6 p.m. on
Sunday. Wagering on the Kentucky Oaks Future pool will open at noon on Thursday,
March 12, and that single pool will conclude at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 15.
The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks Future Wagers are minimum $2 wagers and
win bets only. The bets offers fans opportunities to wager on contenders for the
Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks at odds that could be greater than those they
would receive on the their respective race day. There are no refunds in either
the Kentucky Derby or Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.
The 135th running of the Kentucky Derby — a 1 1/4-mile test for
three-year-olds and America’s greatest race — is scheduled for Saturday, May 2
at Churchill Downs. The $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (G1), a 1 1/8-mile race
restricted to three-year-old fillies, will be run over the track on Friday, May
1.
A total of $1,056,520 was wagered on the three Kentucky Derby Future Wager
pools in 2008 as total betting on the wager topped the $1 million mark for the
ninth consecutive time in its 10-year history. Wagering on the three Kentucky
Oaks pools in 2008 totaled $174,838, the second highest three-pool total in the
history of the bet.
“A wide open and very competitive Kentucky Derby picture is developing and
Churchill Downs is excited to again offer three pools with plenty of betting
value in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which has become part of the Derby
tradition over the past decade,” Churchill Downs General Manager Jim Gates said.
“After careful consideration we decided to return the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager
to a single-pool format and believe the March pool offers the best opportunity
to present a strong roster of serious Kentucky Oaks wagering interests. We think
the single-pool format will provide the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager with its best
opportunity to grow and present racing fans a chance to have a lot of fun while
searching for the winner of what has become the nation’s most prestigious event
for three-year-old fillies.”
Information on the 2009 Kentucky Derby is available on the official event Web
site at www.kentuckyderby.com.