Derby Future Pool dates set

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.