Derby, Oaks future pools open Friday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Seven new names are among the 22 separately listed interests in Pool 6 of the 2020 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern.

Pool 6 coincides with a second futures pool toward the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, with an OaksDerby double future wager also being offered again.

Tiz the Law, winner of the June 20 Belmont Stakes, is listed as the 5-2 morning-line favorite in Pool 6, followed by Art Collector at 9-2 and Honor A. P. at 5-1. Tiz the Law closed as the 2-1 favorite in Pool 5, which ran June 26-28.

Churchill Downs has never had more than four futures pools since the first were offered in 1999, but these are unprecedented times amid the coronavirus pandemic. The 146th Derby has been postponed from its original May 2 date until Sept. 5, and the Belmont became the first leg of the Triple Crown.

The new names for Pool 6 are Attachment Rate, Dean Martini, Major Fed, Modernist, Shared Sense, South Bend, and Storm the Court. Several of those horses had been separately listed in prior pools but not in Pool 5.

Gone from Pool 5 are Basin, Cafe Pharoah, Creed, Ete Indien, Man in the Can, Money Moves, and Mr. Big News.

Win and exacta wagering are available, with odds and willpays locked in only when the pool closes Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern. Combined handle on Pool 5 was $337,606.

Five of the Pool 6 horses were expected in action this week: Modernist and Mystic Guide in the Peter Pan on Thursday at Saratoga, and Authentic,

Dr Post, and Ny Traffic in the Haskell on Saturday at Monmouth.

The field closed as the favorite in each of the first four pools. Pool 1 was Nov. 27-30, Pool 2 was Feb. 7-9, Pool 3 was March 6-8, and Pool 4 was April 3-5. Pool 7 is set for Aug. 7-9.

Tiz the Law and Honor A. P. are among just four horses to be listed as separate interests in all six 2020 pools, with the others being Authentic and Thousand Words.

In the Oaks pool, which closes Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, Gamine is listed as a 9-5 morning-line favorite off her smashing triumph in the June 20 Acorn Stakes for Bob Baffert. Swiss Skydiver is next at 3-1.

Remarkably, just seven fillies remain listed as separate interests from the first Oaks pool, which was offered in conjunction with Derby Pool 3 in early March. Those horses are Donna Veloce, Finite, Harvey’s Lil Goil, Spice Is Nice, Swiss Skydiver, Tonalist’s Shape, and Venetian Harbor. Interestingly, Swiss Skydiver was 167-1 in the first pool but has gone on to become by far the Oaks qualifying points leader in four starts since then.

The Oaks pool in March drew $101,841 in combined handle and the Oaks-Derby double handled $87,175.

Starting with the Peter Pan, only six points qualifiers remain on the Derby schedule, and only four points races remain for the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks – helping to explain why the mutuel fields in each pool are so high (15-1 and 20-1) on their respective morning lines.

Real-time odds and will-pays are available through various modes, including on kentuckyderby.com.