Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 3 Opens Friday Led By 8-1 Individual Favorite Fierceness

Jan 17, 2024 Kevin Kerstein

Anticipation continues to build toward the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade I) and fans will have their third of six early betting opportunities Friday-Sunday for Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The three-day pool features 40 betting options led by Repole Stable’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) hero Fierceness as the 8-1 individual favorite and “All Other 3-Year-Olds” from the 2021 foal crop not listed in the field as the 7-5 overall betting choice.

Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will open Friday at noon (all times Eastern) and close Sunday at 6 p.m. Like the first two pools, Pool 3 will feature $2 Win and Exacta wagering.

Fierceness, the frontrunner for the Eclipse Award for Champion 2-Year-Old Male, is preparing to make his seasonal debut in the Feb. 3 Holy Bull Stakes (GIII) at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Fierceness closed as the 8-1 individual favorite in Pool 2, which ran Nov. 23-26 and was 29-1 in Pool 1, which spanned Oct. 31-Nov. 1 before he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Here are the 40 betting interests in order of their program numbers (with morning line odds):

#1 Amante Bianco (JPN) (60-1);

#2 Ari’s Magic (99-1);

#3 Book’em Danno (80-1);

#4 Born Noble (60-1);

#5 Carbone (60-1);

#6 Cardinale (80-1);

#7 Catching Freedom (40-1);

#8 Change of Command (60-1);

#9 Conquest Warrior (40-1);

#10 Deterministic (99-1);

#11 Dornoch (20-1);

#12 Drum Roll Please (40-1);

#13 El Capi (50-1);

#14 Ethan Energy (60-1);

#15 Fierceness (8-1);

#16 Forever Young (JPN) (30-1);

#17 Honor Marie (30-1);

#18 Imperial Gun (99-1);

#19 Just Steel (80-1);

#20 Knightsbridge (50-1);

#21 Lat Long (99-1);

#22 Liberal Arts (80-1);

#23 Locked (15-1);

#24 Merit (99-1);

#25 Nash (30-1);

#26 Otello (99-1);

#27 Otto the Conqueror (99-1);

#28 Parchment Party (40-1);

#29 Real Men Violin (80-1);

#30 Resilience (99-1);

#31 Sierra Leone (30-1);

#32 Snead (50-1);

#33 Stretch Ride (50-1);

#34 Stronghold (99-1);

#35 The Wine Steward (50-1);

#36 Timberlake (25-1);

#37 Time for Truth (99-1);

#38 Track Phantom (60-1);

#39 Tuscan Sky (99-1); and

#40 “All Other 3-Year-Olds from 2021 Foal Crop” (7-5).

Overall, there are 21 new betting interests in Pool 3 from Pool 2 that ran seven weeks ago: Amante Bianco (JPN), Ari’s Magic, Book’em Danno, Born Noble, Cardinale, Change of Command, Conquest Warrior, Deterministic, El Capi, Ethan Energy, Forever Young (JPN), Honor Marie, Imperial Gun, Just Steel, Lat Long, Otello, Resilience, Snead, Time for Truth, Track Phantom and Tuscan Sky.

Along with Fierceness, his Breeders’ Futurity (GI)-winning stablemate Locked is expected to garner attention in Pool 3 at morning line odds of 15-1. Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Walmac Farm, Locked is scheduled to make his seasonal debut in the Feb. 10 Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs, according to Pletcher.

All told, there are six Future Wager pools scheduled in advance of the 2024 Kentucky Derby: Oct. 31-Nov.2 (Pool 1); Nov. 23-26 (Pool 2); Jan. 19-21 (Pool 3); Feb. 16-18 (Pool 4); March 15-17 (Pool 5); and April 4-April 6 (Pool 6). The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 5.

Pool 3 will assume that horses currently under the care of trainers suspended from competing in the 2024 Kentucky Derby will not be under consideration. Instead, they will be included within the pari-mutuel field.

There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of this week’s three-day pool that one of the wagering interests has experienced an injury, illness or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately.

More information, Brisnet.com past performances and real-time odds on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be available before the pool opens Thursday online at https://www.kentuckyderby.com/wager/future-wager.