Mutuel field listed as even-money favorite in KDFW Pool 2

The mutuel field (#24), known to many racing fans as "All Others," has been

the favorite in each of Churchill Downs Racetrack's Kentucky Derby Future Wager

(KDFW) pools that have opened a calendar year since the wager was created in

1999, and there is no reason to expect that history will not be served when the

opening pool of 2015 (February 6-8) completes its run on Sunday evening.

Churchill Downs Handicapper Mike Battaglia has installed "All Others" as a

strong even-money morning line favorite among the 24 betting interests in the

three-day

Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 that opens its run at noon (EST) on

Friday and concludes on Sunday at 6 p.m. Recently-crowned 2014 Eclipse Award

two-year-old champion American Pharoah (#1), along with Dortmund (#5), Upstart

(#23), Carpe Diem (#2) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) winner Texas Red (#21),

headline the 23 individual betting interests.

The pool is the second KDFW pool leading up to the 2015 Kentucky Derby,

following an opening pool conducted November 28-30. "All Others" was the 3-5

favorite in November's three-day pool, which attracted total wagering of

$234,574. Total betting in the 2014 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, the first to

feature four wagering pools, was $1,324,466.

The Kentucky Derby Future Wager enables fans of America's greatest race to

wager on candidates for the $2 million Kentucky Derby (G1) well in advance of

the race at odds that could be much more attractive than those offered on the

day of the race. Winning payouts in all KDFW pools are determined by the odds

that are in place at the end of each respective betting pool. Those winning

mutuel payouts for the $2 minimum win and exacta wagers placed in each Kentucky

Derby Future pool will be made following the running of the Kentucky Derby on

May 2 at Churchill Downs.

The favored mutuel field includes all three-year-old Thoroughbreds other than

the 23 individual horses listed among the 24 betting interests in KDFW Pool 2.

With Battaglia tabbing "All Others" as such a strong favorite in his morning

line odds, fans may find wagering value in the odds on the individual betting

interests. Zayat Stables LLC's American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile), honored as

the juvenile champion of 2014 after emphatic Grade 1 wins in the Del Mar

Futurity and Santa Anita's FrontRunner for three-time Kentucky Derby-winning

trainer Bob Baffert, is the favored individual horse at 10-1.

American Pharoah was injured shortly before a scheduled run in last fall's

Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita and was forced to miss that race. He

returned to serious training on Monday with a three-furlong workout at Santa

Anita.

Close behind the champion and Pool 2 favorite are Kaleem Shah Inc.'s unbeaten

Dortmund (Big Brown), the Baffert-trained winner of the Los Alamitos Futurity

(G1), and Ralph M. Evans' Upstart (Flatter), an impressive winner of the Holy

Bull (G2) at Gulfstream Park for trainer Rick Violette Jr. Those wagering

interests are the co-second choices among individual horses at 12-1. Dortmund

was the 9-1 individual favorite during last fall's opening pool of this year's

Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

Just behind that duo at 15-1 is the duo of WinStar Farm LLC and Stonestreet

Stables LLC's Carpe Diem (Giant's Causeway), the Todd Pletcher-trained winner of

Keeneland's Breeders' Futurity (G1) and runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile;

and Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmar, Lee Micheals, and Keith Desormeaux et al's Texas

Red (Afleet Alex), an emphatic winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile who was

narrowly beaten in his 2015 debut in Sunday's San Vicente (G2) at Santa Anita.

Texas Red is trained by co-owner Desormeaux and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, the

trainer's three-time Kentucky Derby-winning brother.

Carpe Diem is one of six KDFW Pool 2 individual betting interests trained by

Pletcher, who scored his lone Kentucky Derby victory in 2010 with WinStar Farm's

Super Saver. Joining Carpe Diem in Pletcher's half-dozen are Competitive Edge

(#3), Daredevil (#4), Itsaknockout (#13), J S Bach (#14) and Khozan (#15). The

latter, owned by Al Shaqab Racing, is son of Distorted Humor and a half-brother

to two-time champion Royal Delta who scored an easy victory in his racing debut

on January 24 at Gulfstream Park.

Baffert and Kiaran McLaughlin each have three trainees in the pool. Along

with top individual choices American Pharoah and Dortmund, Baffert trains Lord

Nelson (#16, 30-1), who edged Texas Red in the San Vicente in his first start of

2015.  McLaughin, a Lexington, Kentucky native looking for his first

triumph in the Kentucky Derby, trains Frosted (#9, 30-1) and Imperia (#11,

30-1), both owned by Dubai-based Godolphin, and Stonestreet Stables LLC's Ocean

Knight (#18), the unbeaten winner of the Sam F. Davis (G3) last Saturday at

Tampa Bay Downs. McLaughlin saddled Closing Argument for a runner-up finish to

the victorious Giacomo in the 2005 Kentucky Derby.

Nine of Pool 2's betting interests were not featured in November's opening

KDFW Pool 1. They are Far Right (#7, 50-1), Firing Line (#8, 30-1), Gorgeous

Bird (#10, 50-1), International Star (#12, 50-1), Itsaknockout (50-1), J S. Bach

(30-1), Khozan (20-1), Ocean Knight (50-1) and Prospect Park (#20, 50-1).

Wagering on Pool 2 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be offered at Churchill

Downs and racetracks throughout North America; on the web via

TwinSpires.com, the

official online wagering site of the Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs

Incorporated and other advance deposit wagering sites; and at other simulcast

centers and off-track wagering sites.

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

wager, but betting will be suspended immediately on a wagering interest in any

KDFW pool if Churchill Downs determines that injury, illness or other

circumstance revealed during a pool would prevent a horse from competing in the

race.

Wagering interests for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager were chosen by

Churchill Downs committee that included Racing Secretary Ben Huffman, Senior

Director of Communications Darren Rogers, Senior Racing Analyst Jill Byrne,

Pari-Mutuel Marketing Manager Gary Palmisano and Vice President, Racing

Communications John Asher.

Free Brisnet Ultimate Past Performances for wagering interests in Pool 2 of

the Kentucky Derby Future Wager are available at

http://www.brisnet.com/brisnet_promos/KDFW2.pdf. Brisnet also has

complimentary past performances for all Triple Crown nominees at

http://www.brisnet.com/brisnet_promos/TC15noms.pdf.

Two more Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools are scheduled in the months

leading up to Derby 141. The dates for those pools are:

There will be a single pool for the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which was

launched in 2003 and is now in its 13th year.  That pool will run

concurrently with KDFW Pool 3 from February 27 through March 1. The only

difference in the schedule of those pools is a 6:30 p.m. closing time for the

Oaks pool, which is 30 minutes later than the KDFW pool.

Real-time odds during the three-day run of KDFW Pool 2 and other information

the wager and the Kentucky Derby are available at the official event Web site at

www.KentuckyDerby.com.

Click here for wagering interests and morning line odds for Pool 2.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com