The 150th running of the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1) will be offered on May 4, and this weekend marks the third of six early betting opportunities.
Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will run Friday-Sunday, and the three-day pool features 40 betting options led by Repole Stable’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) hero Fierceness as the 8-1 individual favorite.
“All Other 3-Year-Olds” from the 2021 foal crop not listed in the field has been installed as the 7-5 overall betting choice.
Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will open Friday at noon (all times Eastern) and close Sunday at 6 p.m. Like the first two pools, Pool 3 will feature $2 Win and Exacta wagering.
Fierceness, the frontrunner for the Eclipse Award for champion two-year-old male, is preparing to make his seasonal debut in the Feb. 3 Holy Bull (G3) at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Fierceness closed as the 8-1 individual favorite in Pool 2, which ran Nov. 23-26, and was 29-1 in Pool 1, which spanned Oct. 31-Nov. 1 before he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Overall, there are 21 new betting interests in Pool 3 from Pool 2 that ran seven weeks ago: Amante Bianco (Jpn), Ari’s Magic, Book’em Danno, Born Noble, Cardinale, Change of Command, Conquest Warrior, Deterministic, El Capi, Ethan Energy, Forever Young (Jpn), Honor Marie, Imperial Gun, Just Steel, Lat Long, Otello, Resilience, Snead, Time for Truth, Track Phantom, and Tuscan Sky.
Along with Fierceness, his Breeders’ Futurity (G1)-winning stablemate Locked is expected to garner attention in Pool 3 at morning line odds of 15-1. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm, Locked is scheduled to make his seasonal debut in the Feb. 10 Sam F. Davis (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs, according to Pletcher.
All told, there are six Future Wager pools scheduled in advance of the 2024 Kentucky Derby. The upcoming pools are Feb. 16-18 (Pool 4); March 15-17 (Pool 5); and April 4-April 6 (Pool 6). The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5.
Pool 3 will assume that horses currently under the care of trainers suspended from competing in the 2024 Kentucky Derby will not be under consideration. Instead, they will be included within the pari-mutuel field.
There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of this week’s three-day pool that one of the wagering interests has experienced an injury, illness, or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately.
More information, Brisnet.com past performances, and real-time odds on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be available before the pool opens Thursday online at https://www.kentuckyderby.com/wager/future-wager.
Here are the 40 betting interests in order of their program numbers (with morning line odds):
| #1 Amante Biance | 60-1 | Add to Stable |
| #2 Ari’s Magic | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #3 Book’em Danno | 80-1 | Add to Stable |
| #4 Born Noble | 60-1 | Add to Stable |
| #5 Carbone | 60-1 | Add to Stable |
| #6 Cardinale | 80-1 | Add to Stable |
| #7 Catching Freedom | 40-1 | Add to Stable |
| #8 Change of Command | 60-1 | Add to Stable |
| #9 Conquest Warrior | 40-1 | Add to Stable |
| #10 Deterministic | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #11 Dornoch | 20-1 | Add to Stable |
| #12 Drum Roll Please | 40-1 | Add to Stable |
| #13 El Capi | 50-1 | Add to Stable |
| #14 Ethan Energy | 60-1 | Add to Stable |
| #15 Fierceness | 8-1 | Add to Stable |
| #16 Forever Young | 30-1 | Add to Stable |
| #17 Honor Marie | 30-1 | Add to Stable |
| #18 Imperial Gun | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #19 Just Steel | 80-1 | Add to Stable |
| #20 Knightsbridge | 50-1 | Add to Stable |
| #21 Lat Long | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #22 Liberal Arts | 80-1 | Add to Stable |
| #23 Locked | 15-1 | Add to Stable |
| #24 Merit | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #25 Nash | 30-1 | Add to Stable |
| #26 Otello | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #27 Otto the Conqueror | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #28 Parchment Party | 40-1 | Add to Stable |
| #29 Real Men Violin | 80-1 | Add to Stable |
| #30 Resilience | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #31 Sierra Leone | 30-1 | Add to Stable |
| #32 Snead | 50-1 | Add to Stable |
| #33 Stretch Ride | 50-1 | Add to Stable |
| #34 Stronghold | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #35 The Wind Steward | 50-1 | Add to Stable |
| #36 Timberlake | 25-1 | Add to Stable |
| #37 Time for Truth | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #38 Track Phantom | 60-1 | Add to Stable |
| #39 Tuscan Sky | 99-1 | Add to Stable |
| #40 “All Others” | 7-5 |
