Unbeatens Mohaymen, Champion Nyquist Top Individuals, but 'All Others' is Odds-On Morning Line Choice in Kentucky Derby Futures Pool 2

Feb 09, 2016 John Asher

A pair of unbeaten 3-year-old Thoroughbreds – Shadwell Stable’s Mohaymen (#15) and Reddam Racing LLC’s champion Nyquist (#17) are rated as the top individual horses, but the ever-popular “All Others” (#24) wager is the odds-on favorite among 24 betting interests set for this week’s second of four pools of Churchill Downs’ 2016 Kentucky Derby Future Wager (“KDFW”) that begins a three-day run on Friday, Feb. 12. 

The wager, now in its 18th year, enables fans of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) to wager on contenders for its 2016 running well in advance of the race at odds that could be much more attractive than those available on Derby Day. Wagering on Pool 2 of the 2016 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will open a noon (all times EDT) on Friday, Feb. 12 and continue through Sunday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m.  

Each Kentucky Derby Future Wager pool permits $2 minimum win bets and $2 exacta wagers, with the latter also available in $1 minimum increments in boxes and other multiple number configurations. No scratches or refunds of wagers are permitted in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. If it is determined during any KDFW pool that a wagering interest will not be able to participate in the Kentucky Derby, wagering on that interest will be suspended immediately.

The Mutuel Field, popularly known as “All Others,” includes all 3-year-old Thoroughbreds other than Pool 2’s 23 individual wagering interests and has been the Pool 2 favorite every year since the Kentucky Derby Future Wager debuted in 1999. Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia has installed “All Others” as the 4-5 favorite in Pool 2. “All Others” was the heavy 3-5 favorite at the closing of the four-day opening pool of 2016, which ran from Nov. 26-29.  

Pool 2’s favored individual horse at 8-1 is Mohaymen, a son of Tapit trained by Kiaran McLaughlin who won for the fourth time in as many races in a comfortable triumph in the recent Holy Bull (Grade II) at Gulfstream Park. Mohaymen was the 11-1 overall third choice in 2016’s opening KDFW pool in November. Just behind Mohaymen in Battaglia’s Pool 2 morning line is Nyquist, the unbeaten champion 2-year-old of 2015 and winner of the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) at Keeneland. Named for National Hockey League star Gustav Nyquist of the Detroit Red Wings, Nyquist capped a perfect five-race season with his Breeders’ Cup triumph for owner Reddam Racing LLC, trainer Doug O’Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez, the owner-trainer-jockey team that won the 2012 Kentucky Derby with I’ll Have Another.  

The 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday, May 7 – the latest possible date for the race renewed annually on the first Saturday in May. Last year’s Kentucky Derby victory by Zayat Stable’s eventual Triple Crown winner, Horse of the Year and 3-year-old champion American Pharoah resulted in a $7.80 return for a $2 win wager on Derby Day, but the respective $2 KDFW win payouts on American Pharoah were $27.60 (Pool 1), $23.00 (P2), $18.20 (P3) and $13.00 (P4). The Derby Day return on a $2 exacta wager on the 1-2 finish by American Pharoah and Firing Line was $72. But KDFW exacta payouts on the Derby’s 1-2 finish were $58 in Pool 1 (Firing Line was part of “All Others” in that pool), $658.80 (P2), $508 (P3) and $109.80 (P4).

Other accomplished Pool 2 horses include the Bob Baffert-trained Robert B. Lewis (GIII) and Los Alamitos Futurity (GI) winner Mor Spirit (#16, 15-1), Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) winner Airoforce (#1, 20-1), Delta Jackpot (GIII) and Saratoga Special (GII) winner Exaggerator (#9, 20-1), and Holy Bull runner-up and Champagne (GI) winner Greenpointcrusader (#12, 20-1).

Thirteen (13) Pool 2 wagering interests were not a part of November’s opening pool. That group includes Awesome Banner (#2, 30-1), Cherry Wine (#4, 50-1), Collected (#6, 30-1), Danzing Candy (#7, 30-1), Discreetness (#8, 50-1), Gettysburg (#10, 50-1), Mo Tom (#14, 50-1), Shagaf (#18, 30-1), Smokey Image (#19, 30-1), Tom’s Ready (#20, 50-1), Vorticity (#21, 50-1), Whitmore (#22, 50-1) and Zulu (#23, 30-1). 

Four trainers are represented by two betting interests in KDFW Pool 2. The group includes Baffert (Mor Spirit, Collected), Chad Brown (Gift Box, Shagaf), Todd Pletcher (Gettysburg, Zulu) and Dale Romans (Brody’s Cause, Cherry Wine). 

Dates for the remaining 2016 Kentucky Derby and Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI) Future Wager pools are:

• KDFW Pool 3 – March 11-13

• Kentucky Oaks Future Wager – March 11-13

• KDFW Pool 3 – April 1-3

Information on the Kentucky Derby is available online at the official event web site at www.KentuckyDerby.com. Real-time odds on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager are presented on that site during each of pools.

Click here for a complete list of wagering interests and morning line odds in Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2.