Big Brown Paces Derby Pool 3 at Midpoint

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Big Brown Paces Derby Pool 3 at Midpoint
by Blood-Horse Staff
Date Posted: 4/5/2008 2:30:04 AM
Last Updated: 4/6/2008 7:31:29 PM

Big Brown remained the top choice as the third and final pool of the 2008 Kentucky Derby Future Wager reached its midway point.
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Photo: Coglianese Photos

IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr.’s Big Brown, the unbeaten winner of the Florida Derby (gr. I), remained the top choice of Kentucky Derby fans as the third and final pool of Churchill Downs’ 2008 Kentucky Derby Future Wager reached its midway point April 4.

The Richard Dutrow Jr.-trained son of Boundary, who was not among the individual betting interests in either of the year’s first two pools of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, was the 3-1 favorite following the second day of betting in the four-day third pool. Big Brown remained a narrow choice over Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Pyro, the winner of the Louisiana Derby (gr. II) and the pool’s second choice at 9-2. Pyro closed as the 4-1 favorite in Pool 2 of the Derby Future bet.

The 134th running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I)will be run May 3 at Churchill Downs.

A total of $40,020 wagered on April 4 raised the pool’s two-day total to $66,752. Betting on the four-day pool is scheduled to resume April 5 at noon (all times EDT). The pool will close at 6 p.m. April 6. Winning payouts will be based on the odds in place at the conclusion of wagering.

There is continued solid support for Robert LaPenta’s War Pass, the champion 2-year-old in 2007 who suffered his first career defeat in a disappointing last-place finish in the Tampa Bay Derby (gr. III) March 15. War Pass, who will attempt to restore his tarnished image in the $750,000 Wood Memorial (gr. I) at Aqueduct, was the 8-1 third choice in Pool 3. The mutuel field, which includes all 3-year-olds other than the 23 individual horses in Pool 3, was the fourth choice at 11-1.

The Wood Memorial is one of three major stakes races scheduled for April 5 that could shake up the odds for Pool 3 of the KDFW. Also on the schedule are the $1 million Santa Anita Derby (gr. I), which is headed by Colonel John (17-1) and El Gato Malo (15-1), and the $500,000-added Illinois Derby (gr. II), in which Denis of Cork (17-1) is the likely favorite.

Real time odds on Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager are available on the official Kentucky Derby Web site at www.kentuckyderby.com.

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