Empty Pool
I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one glum about the anemic prices and short list of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Steven Crist is too:
“There are basically two ways to play the Derby Futures. The first is to be a contrarian, play the field, and say this is going to be another one of those years when the Derby winner is not one of the 23 top prospects as of Valentine’s Day. This would have worked with Smarty Jones last year, and War Emblem in 2002, though not with Funny Cide, the longest shot in Pool 1 at 93-1 two years ago.
“The advantage of this approach is that you’re guaranteed three months of action and likely to end up with something like a 12-horse entry carrying your hopes on Derby Day. The disadvantages are that you’re lucky to get 5-2 and you have to root against all 23 Pool 1 horses, a somewhat miserable way to spend the next 84 days…. What you really want are some plausible 150-1 shots, but under the inadequate way that the Derby Futures are currently set up, you’re never going to find those prices.” (Daily Racing Form — sub. req.)
