All Others installed as 6-1 favorite in Pool 3 of KDFW

The third of four pools of Churchill Downs Racetrack's 2014 Kentucky Derby

Future Wager ("KDFW") opens its run on Thursday with Cairo Prince (#3) and Top

Billing (#20) sharing the role of favored individual horses, but the

ever-popular 'All Others' (#24) figures to be the overall betting choice when

three days of Derby Future betting concludes early Saturday evening.

Churchill Downs handicapper Mike Battaglia has established morning line odds

for KDFW Pool 3's 24 wagering interests and the Mutuel Field, or 'All Others',

is the 6-1 favorite for the Derby Futures pool. Close behind Cairo Prince and

Top Billing, are the pool's 8-1 co-second choices and favorite individual

horses.

KDFW Pool 3 opens Thursday at noon (all times Eastern) and will close at post

time of Saturday's Grade 3 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, which is scheduled for

4:17 p.m. 

The 1 1/16-mile Gotham is this week's stop on the Championship Season

schedule of the "Road to the Kentucky Derby," the point system that determines

the eligibility of the maximum field of 20 horses that will compete in the $2

million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 3.

The Mutuel Field includes all three-year-old Thoroughbreds other than the 23

individual horses in the roster of wagering interests for the Derby Future bet,

which was launched in 1999.

Pool 3 of the 2014 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will run concurrently with the

year's only Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool. The Oaks Future pool is scheduled

to conclude at post time for Saturday's Grade 3 Santa Ysabel at Santa Anita, or

6 p.m., whichever comes first. 

The Kentucky Derby Future Wager enables racing fans to place wagers on

contenders for America's greatest race well in advance of Derby Day at odds that

could be much more attractive than those available on the day of the event. The

Derby Future bet is a $2 minimum win wager, and exacta betting is also available

as either a $2 minimum wager or as a $1 minimum bet in exacta boxes and other

combinations.

Betting on the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools will be

available at TwinSpires.com, the official advance-deposit wagering service

for Churchill Downs Inc. and the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks, and

through other online wagering platforms. Both wagers will also be offered a

racetracks and satellite wagering centers across North America.

The Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Cairo Prince scored an emphatic victory in the

Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park, his only start of the year. His only setback in

four races was a nose loss to Honor Code (#9) in last fall's Remsen at Aqueduct.

Top Billing finished third to fellow KDFW Pool 3 wagering interest Wildcat Red

(#23) in his stakes debut in last Saturday's Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream.

The highly-regarded son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin has won two of four

career races.  

Top Billing is trained by Shug McGaughey, a Kentucky-born member of

Thoroughbred Racing's Hall of Fame who won his first Kentucky Derby in 2013

with Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable's Orb. McGaughey also trains Honor

Code, a son of A.P. Indy and the favored individual at odds of 12-1 in

February's KDFW Pool 2. Honor Code will open KDFW Pool 3 at odds of 10-1, the

overall fourth choice behind "All Others," Cairo Prince and stablemate Top

Billing.

Other horses expected to attract significant support in KDFW Pool 3 include

unbeaten Shared Belief (#16), the two-year-old champion of 2013 for Hall of Fame

trainer Jerry Hollendorfer who is listed at 12-1; the Steve Asmussen-trained Tapiture

(#19, 15-1), an impressive winner of last week's Southwest at Oaklawn Park and

winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club in November at Churchill Downs; Starlight

Racing's Intense Holiday (#11, 15-1), who rallied to win Saturday's Risen Star

at Fair Grounds for trainer Todd Pletcher; Bayern (#2, 15-1), a 15-length winner

of a recent Santa Anita allowance race for his second win in as many starts for

three-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert; C R K Stable's Candy Boy

(#5, 20-1) winner of the Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita for trainer John

Sadler, Constitution (#7, 20-1), an impressive allowance winner for Pletcher on

Saturday at Gulfstream Park; Strong Mandate (#17, 20-1), winner of the Hopeful

and runner-up to Tapiture in the Southwest for four-time Kentucky Derby winner

and Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas; Indianapolis (#10, 20-1), Baffert's

unbeaten winner of the San Pedro; Kobe's Back (#12, 20-1), an impressive

stretch-running winner of the San Vicente at Santa Anita; and Wildcat Red (#23,

20-1) and General a Rod (#8, 20-1), who enter the pool off a stirring one-two

finish in Saturday's Fountain of Youth.

Wagering on the February 6-8 second pool of this year's Kentucky Derby Future

Wager totaled $380,250, which included $92,927 in exacta bets. Wagering in KDFW

Pool 2 was likely hampered by harsh winter weather that prompted the closing of

several racetracks in the East and Southeast during the pool. Total wagering in

the pool was the lowest since $267,748 in $2 win bets were placed the inaugural

Derby Futures pool in 1999. A total of $273,174 -- including $35,096 in exacta

bets -- was wagering during the November 27-30 opening pool of the Kentucky

Derby 140 Future bet. That pool was the first Derby Futures pool ever conducted

in November and total betting for this year's two pools stands at $653,424.

No scratches or betting refunds are permitted in the Kentucky Derby Future

Wager. Betting on an individual horse in the pool will be suspended immediately

if Churchill Downs determines during the pool that injury, illness or other

circumstance would prevent the horse from competing in their respective race.

Individual betting interests for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools are

established by a committee that includes veteran racing journalist Gary

West; Brad Free, a West Coast correspondent for the Daily Racing Form and

HRTV; Ed DeRosa, director of marketing for Brisnet.com; and John Asher, vice

president of Racing Communications for Churchill Downs.

The fourth and final KDFW Pool is scheduled for March 27-29.

Real-time odds and other information on the KDFW are available at the

official event Web site at www.KentuckyDerby.com,

and information on the KOFW is available at

www.KentuckyOaks.com.

KENTUCKY DERBY FUTURE WAGER

POOL 3

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com