Field, Game Winner favorites in Pool 2

The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed as the favorite over Game Winner after the three days of betting into Pool 2 of the 2019 Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The pool opened Friday at noon Eastern and ran through 6 p.m. Sunday.

The field closed at 5-2, followed by Game Winner (5-1), Hidden Scroll (7-1), Improbable (7-1), Instagrand (10-1), and War of Will (17-1). The lowest $2 exacta will-pay is Game Winner over Improbable (3-9), worth $52.40.

Total handle for Pool 2 was $533,977, up 2.4 percent from the $521,649 bet into the corresponding pool in 2018. Win handle was $398,997, and exacta handle was $134,980. Last year, Pool 2 was up a whopping 58 percent over 2017.

Just two of the 23 individually listed horses were in action while Pool 2 was open – Knicks Go, was fifth in the Sam Davis on Saturday at Tampa Bay Downs before closing Sunday at 75-1, and Global Campaign won a Gulfstream allowance Saturday before closing at 22-1. A third horse, Coliseum (22-1), finished third in the San Vicente at Santa Anita shortly after the pool closed Sunday.

The field has always been the favorite in the pool held at this time of year (originally Pool 1, now Pool 2) since Churchill Downs began offering parimutuel futures in 1999. The futures were expanded from three pools to four in advance of the 2014 Kentucky Derby.

The field closed as the 6-5 favorite in Pool 1, which was held Nov. 22-25 in tandem with the Derby Sires Future Wager. Combined Pool 1 handle was $258,389, with another $32,924 bet in the sires wager.

Pool 3 is set for March 8-10 and Pool 4 for April 5-7. The lone Kentucky Oaks futures pool will coincide with Pool 3.

Last year in Pool 2, the field closed as the 5-2 favorite and included the eventual Derby winner, Justify. In Pool 2 in 2017, the field also was 5-2 and included the eventual Derby winner, Always Dreaming.

The record for handle in a single pool is $631,304, set in

2012, while the record for aggregate handle in a single year is $1,893,353, set last year.

In the case of field horses filling both exacta slots, the nextbest finish by a separately listed horse will count toward the winning combination.

The 145th Kentucky Derby will be run May 4.