With the Kentucky Derby (G1) less than 15 weeks away, the pari-mutuel field of "All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2021 Foal Crop" closed as the 2-1 favorite in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) winner Fierceness was the 8-1 second choice.
Repole Stable's Fierceness, trained by two-time Kentucky Derby winner Todd Pletcher, is expected to be crowned last year's champion 2-Year-Old Male at Thursday night's Eclipse Awards. He is on target to make his 3-year-old debut in the $250,000 Holy Bull Stakes (G3) over 1 1/16 miles Feb. 3 at Gulfstream Park.
Other horses who attracted mild interest from bettors: Remsen Stakes (G2) runner-up Sierra Leone (13-1); Dornoch (15-1), the Remsen winner and full brother to 2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage ; Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Locked (18-1); recent Gulfstream Park maiden winner Conquest Warrior (18-1); and Gun Runner and Lecomte Stakes (G3) winner Track Phantom (18-1).
Horses in order of the public's betting choice (with trainer, sire, Pool 3 odds and $2 Win Will Pays):
#40 "All Other 3-Year-Olds from 2021 Foal Crop" (2-1, $6.88).
#15 Fierceness (Pletcher, City of Light , 8-1, $18.64);
#31 Sierra Leone (Chad Brown, Gun Runner , 13-1, $28.18);
#11 Dornoch (Danny Gargan, Good Magic , 15-1, $32.82);
#23 Locked (Pletcher, Gun Runner, 18-1, $38.46);
#9 Conquest Warrior (Shug McGaughey III, City of Light, 18-1, $38.92);
#38 Track Phantom (Steve Asmussen, Quality Road , 18-1, $39.12);
#17 Honor Marie (Whit Beckman, Honor Code, 25-1, $52.20);
#20 Knightsbridge (Bill Mott, Nyquist , 26-1, $54.36);
#7 Catching Freedom (Brad Cox, Constitution , 28-1, $59.28);
#36 Timberlake (Cox, Into Mischief , 30-1, $63.74);
#13 El Capi (Rick Dutrow Jr., Maclean's Music , 33-1, $69.70);
#16 Forever Young (Yoshito Yahagi, Real Steel, 34-1, $70.54);
#25 Nash (Cox, Medaglia d'Oro , 35-1, $73.16);
#5 Carbone (Asmussen, Mitole , 36-1, $75.98);
#4 Born Noble (Pletcher, Constitution, 41-1, $85.54);
#28 Parchment Party (Mott, Constitution, 51-1, $104.30);
#26 Otello (Christophe Clement, Curlin , 59-1, $121.12);
#3 Book'em Danno (Derek Ryan, Bucchero , 67-1, $137.08);
#32 Snead (Brendan Walsh, Nyquist, 69-1, $141.40);
#22 Liberal Arts (Bobby Medina, Arrogate, 72-1, $146.32);
#2 Ari's Magic (Clement, Good Magic, 74-1, $151.32);
#35 The Wine Steward (Mike Maker, Vino Rosso , 77-1, $156.46);
#18 Imperial Gun (Asmussen, Gun Runner, 80-1, $162.38);
#8 Change of Command (Shug McGaughey III, Into Mischief, 83-1, $169.30);
#14 Ethan Energy (Cox, Uncle Mo, 83-1, $169.66);
#39 Tuscan Sky (Pletcher, Vino Rosso, 88-1, $179.00);
#27 Otto the Conqueror (Asmussen, Street Sense , 91-1, $184.38);
#30 Resilience (Mott, Into Mischief, 93-1, $189.60);
#37 Time for Truth (Ron Moquett, Omaha Beach , 93-1, $189.96);
#33 Stretch Ride (Dale Romans, Street Sense, 95-1, $192.22);
#1 Amante Bianco (Keisuke Miyata, Henny Hughes, 104-1, $211.44);
#19 Just Steel (Wayne Lukas, Justify , 107-1, $216.02);
#10 Deterministic (Clement, Liam's Map , 107-1, $216.88);
#29 Real Men Violin (Kenny McPeek, Mendelssohn , 123-1, $249.12);
#24 Merit (Saffie Joseph Jr., Mastery, 129-1, $261.56);
#6 Cardinale (Pletcher, Speightstown, 152-1, $307.84);
#34 Stronghold (Phil D'Amato, Ghostzapper, 204-1, $410.40);
#21 Lat Long (McPeek, Liam's Map, 222-1, $446.24); and
#12 Drum Roll Please (Cox, Hard Spun , wagering suspended Friday night because of injury).
Total handle for the Jan. 19-21 KDFW pool—the third of six scheduled wagering pools in advance of the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 4—was $334,472 ($254,977 in the Win pool and $79,495 in Exactas, a 7% increase from last year's $312,906 ($244,700 in the Win pool and $68,207 in Exactas).
A total of $809,662 has been bet on Derby future wagers compared to $623,660 at this stage last year—a 30% surge.
Inaugurated in 1999, the Kentucky Derby Future Wager has been offered for a 26th consecutive year.
Other Future Wager dates are set for Feb. 16-18 (Pool 4); March 15-17 (Pool 5); April 4-6 (Pool 6). The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5.
Visit www.KentuckyDerby.com/FutureWager for more information.
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
