Tag: Kentucky Derby futures

White Abarrio went from closing at 171/1 in the second Kentucky Derby Future Wager to opening at 8/1 in the third pool. That came as a result of this 4 1/2-length victory in last weekend's Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. (Image: Coglianese Photo)

White Abarrio Goes from Long Shot to KDFW Individual Co-Favorite

The third of five pools for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) opens Friday at noon ET with the familiar “All Other 3-Year-Olds” – a.k.a. “the field” – as the 5/2 morning-line favorite. But it opened with a new co-individual favorite sharing that status with a familiar favorite. That newcomer […]

Messier and Flavien Prat breezed to victory as the 6/5 favorite in last Sunday's Bob Hope Stakes at Del Mar. He's currently second on Kentucky Derby futures boards at 20/1 despite being ineligible to run the 2022 Derby. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Two 2022 Derby Hopefuls Share Future Odds on Differing Paths

As one Kentucky Derby hopeful underwent surgery, another underwent surgery to his Derby futures odds after winning his stakes debut. Jack Christopher, who was the 9/5 morning-line favorite before being scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, had a screw placed in a left shin, according to Blood-Horse. After Dr. Larry […]

Maryland-bred Jaxon Traveler returns to his home state as the favorite for the Grade 3 Chick Lang Stakes. The one-time 60/1 futures choice to win the Kentucky Derby found a different path to success. (Image: Maryland Jockey Club)

Taking the Shorter Trail, Jaxon Traveler Puts the Odds in His Favor

Last November, Jaxon Traveler occupied the fast lane of Kentucky Derby prospects. At 60/1, he kept double-digit futures odds company with the likes of 45/1 Highly Motivated, 50/1 Hot Rod Charlie, 75/1 Midnight Bourbon, and 75/1 Keepmeinmind. Jaxon Traveler’s odds were lower than Hidden Stash and Super Stock (both 100/1). […]

The betting bandwagon piled on Life Is Good after he and Mike Smith rolled to an eight-length victory in Saturday's San Felipe Stakes. He is as low as 2/1 on one Kentucky Derby futures board. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Kentucky Derby Futures: When is it Too Late to Jump In?

Here is your Kentucky Derby futures reminder that the typical Derby favorite opens around 5/2 or 3/1 when Mike Battaglia issues the Churchill Downs morning line come Derby Week. We issue this reminder because right now – nearly eight weeks before the May 1 Derby – Life Is Good sits […]

After Jose Ortiz pointed the way to a stretch victory in the Fountain of Youth, Greatest Honour reached his lowest Kentucky Derby odds mark to date. He's 7/1 at Circa Sports, 5/1 at William Hill Nevada. (Image: Lauren King/Gulfstream Park)

Derby Futures: Just When You Thought the Favorites Can’t Go Lower

As the calendar turns to March – a mere two months out from the Kentucky Derby – Circa Sports and William Hill Nevada pared 53 horses from their Derby futures boards. There are 150 horses remaining. The value on many of the favorites? The books sliced that away long ago. […]

Life Is Good, who won January's Sham Stakes with the fastest Beyer Speed Figure of any 3-year-old, clocked a bullet 59.6-second workout last Saturday. Both trainer Bob Baffert and racing writer and historian Jon White called his talent "freaky." (Image: Benoit Photo)

White Goes Beyond Black and White Breaking Down Derby Prospects

When it comes to Kentucky Derby prospects, Jon White makes things simpler than they really are. To the author of Santa Anita Park’s morning line and a regular television presence on XBTV, breaking down Derby prospects in February begins with three elements. “You’re looking for horses who give the indication […]

After winning January's Sham Stakes, Life Is Good attempts to follow Authentic's 2020 path to the Kentucky Derby. Like his Bob Baffert-trained forebear did last year, Life Is Good will run next at the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Baffert’s Next Move: One Derby Prospect Stays Home, One Hits Road

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert began plotting his next moves for his deep bench of Kentucky Derby prospects, with the first move sending top prospect Life Is Good to the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. Baffert’s second move sends Freedom Fighter across the country for […]

Sporting blinkers and a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, Mandaloun held off Proxy to win Saturday's Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds. That depressed his odds in this week's Kentucky Derby futures boards. (Image: Hodges Photography)

Kentucky Derby Futures: Where You Earn Points Matters to Bettors

When it comes to Kentucky Derby futures, Mandaloun and Rombauer illustrated the differences in weight books and bettors give to various Derby prep races. And Life Is Good illustrated that, if you’re a Bob Baffert product, you don’t even have to run to watch your odds shrink. After finishing third […]

At 20/1, Dream Shake brought home a strong maiden victory over two heralded Bob Baffert horses. His Kentucky Derby futures odds plummeted as a result. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Kentucky Derby Futures: What Goes Down, Can Go Up

One Bob Baffert charge watched his Kentucky Derby futures odds fall further this weekend, while another watched his rise to semi-realistic territory. Those were the two biggest takeaways coming out of a weekend that further defined the Derby picture across the odds food chain. The prime beneficiary was Baffert’s Concert […]

Bob Baffert trains Bezos, which is all Derby futures bettors need to hear. The colt makes his anticipated debut today at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Siena Farm)

Amazonian Favorite Bezos Makes Anticipated Debut Today

Bezos makes his debut today in a maiden special weight race on Santa Anita Park’s Super Bowl Sunday card. This is hardly the class of race guaranteed to suck the oxygen out of the room on the biggest sporting day on the American calendar. In horseracing, however, today’s fifth race […]

Tarantino, seen here in an October workout, finished a solid second in the Grade 3 Holy Bull. That earned him a prominent odds cut on this week's Kentucky Derby futures boards. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Derby Futures: Tarantino Shows Even Reservoir Dogs Have Their Day

It wasn’t a case of pulp fiction that Tarantino was sitting at 225/1 when he debuted on the Circa Sports and William Hill Nevada Kentucky Derby futures boards last week. Even the Jackie Browns and Inglorious Basterds of the world stared juicy odds in the face before Tarantino entered the […]

Caddo River used his 10 1/4-length victory in the Smarty Jones to run up the Kentucky Derby futures boards. (Image: Oaklawn Park)

Kentucky Derby Futures: Big Winners Make Big Odds Leaps

The first page of this week’s Kentucky Derby futures board got tighter – partly a byproduct of two horses getting loose from their rivals last weekend. The first was Caddo River, who moved to 16/1 at Circa Sports and 15/1 at William Hill Nevada. Dropping beneath 20/1 at this point […]

Lecomte Stakes winner Midnight Bourbon opens at 30/1 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2. (Image: Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography)

The Field is Your Favorite in Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2

While Life Is Good yielded his favorite status in at least one Las Vegas future book, he holds down 6/1 individual favorite status in Pool 2 of Churchill Downs’ Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) pool. At the same time, the Derby field of “All Other 3-Year-Olds” is the overall 9/5 […]

Concert Tour broke his maiden in impressive fashion last weekend at Santa Anita Park. That broke in the Bob Baffert-trained colt on both Circa Sports and William Hill Nevada's Derby futures boards. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Magic Words ‘Bob Baffert’ Bring Concert Tour, Bezos to Derby Futures

Concert Tour won his debut by 3-½ lengths at Santa Anita last Friday. Other than workouts, Bezos hasn’t entered a starting gate yet. So why are both horses now among the Kentucky Derby futures favorites? Two words: Bob Baffert. Yes, the magic words for 3-year-old Derby hopefuls cast its usual […]

California grape farmers Kosta (left) and younger brother Pete Hronis may have harvested a Kentucky Derby prospect in Rock Your World. He is (Image: Benoit Photo)

Kentucky Derby Futures: Playing the Trainer-Owner Partnership Game

Two weeks ago, we saw Kentucky Derby futures prospect Mutasaabeq impressively move from the turf to the dirt. The question this week is, can Rock Your World do the same thing? The Circa Sports Derby futures book seems to think so. It put 33/1 odds on the Candy Ride colt, […]

Life Is Good won Saturday's Sham Stakes by three-quarters of a length over stablemate Medina Spirit. Kentucky Derby futures bettors rewarded Medina Spirit with an odds cut, while leaving favorite Life Is Good alone. (Image: Benoit Photo)

How Close is Too Close? Derby Futures Boards Reward Sham Stakes Runner-Up

Proving that Kentucky Derby futures boards and futures bettors view such matters through a kaleidoscope, Medina Spirit finished second in Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. At 9/1, he needed a furious stretch rally to even get near race winner and fellow Bob Baffert stablemate, Life Is […]

Parnelli makes his fifth career start in Saturday's Sham Stakes at Santa Anita. He hasn't missed the board in his previous four: a win and three seconds. (Image: Zoe Metz Photgraphy)

Can Life Is Good Duplicate His Electric Debut In Sham Stakes?

Yes, Saturday’s Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park is only a Grade 3. And yes, only five horses are entered. But no. These facts scare away exactly nobody interested in New Year Kentucky Derby reconnaissance. That’s because one of those five is Life Is Good. The same Life Is Good […]

Alain Barows seized the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby lead with his Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun victory earlier this month. The undefeated colt debuted on Circa Sports' Derby Futures Board at 55/1. (Image: Tomoya Moriuchi/Horsephotos.com)

Kentucky Derby Futures Board Gets Quiet Before 2-Year-Olds Turn 3

Consider this week on the Kentucky Derby futures odds watch the lull before the Kentucky Derby prep storm. And that storm blows in this weekend, ushering in three prep races opening 2021. Those are Friday’s Listed Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, and the […]

Kentucky Derby futures bettors paid attention to Senor Buscadore's last-to-first victory in the Springboard Mile. (Image: Dustin Orona Photography/Remington Park)

Springboard Victory Puts Señor Buscadore on Derby Futures Boards

Spielberg ran like he’s been on the Kentucky Derby Futures boards before. Señor Buscadore ran like he wants to be there. And just like that, he became one of 12 new horses appearing on either the Circa Sports or William Hill Nevada Derby Futures boards. Señor Buscadore earned his 35/1 […]

Prime Factor became a prime Kentucky Derby futures bet after he and Irad Ortiz Jr. blitzed a Gulfstream Park maiden field by 7 3/4 lengths. (Image: Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photo)

Prime Factor Becomes Choice Derby Futures Pick After Debut Romp

There were no high-profile stakes races for 2-year-olds last weekend, a fact that didn’t prevent high-profile movement in this week’s Kentucky Derby futures odds. The highest-profile movement came from a new entry to the front rank of Derby prospects, the aptly named Prime Factor. Before his 8-¾-length victory in his […]