Wagering has been suspended on a pair of fillies listed as betting interests in Pool 1 of Churchill Downs’ 2008 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which leaves the four-day pool with 22 wagering interests that include 21 individual horses and a mutuel field that includes all other 3-year-old fillies.
Betting on the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager is set to begin at noon Feb. 7 and continue through 6:30 p.m. EST Feb. 10.
Jay Em Ess Stable’s By the Light and Stonerside Stable’s Sea Chanter have been declared to be off of the road to the $500,000 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) May 2 at Churchill Downs. The rules for the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager and its companion Kentucky Derby Future Wager do not allow scratches or refunds, but the rules do call for a suspension of wagering when Churchill Downs officials confirm that an illness, injury, or other concern would prevent a an individual betting interest from participating in either the Kentucky Oaks or the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I).
By the Light, an unbeaten New York-bred daughter of Malibu Moon and the winner of the $300,000 Boyd Gaming Delta Princess, was knocked from Oaks contention by an ankle injury. Jay Em Ess Stable’s Samantha Siegel told Daily Racing Form By the Light’s injury would require surgery, and that the Richard Dutrow Jr. trainee would not make the Kentucky Oaks.
Four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher informed Churchill Downs officials Feb. 6 that Sea Chanter, who counts the Miesque Stakes (gr. III) at Hollywood Park among her three victories in six starts, would be pointed toward a summer campaign on the grass rather than make a bid for the Kentucky Oaks. Sea Chanter is out of training at this point.
“We decided to freshen her up and focus on a summer turf program,” Pletcher said. “We’re just giving her some time off.”
Pletcher, who won the Kentucky Oaks in 2007 with Rags to Riches and 2004 with Ashado, still has a Kentucky Oaks Future Wager betting interest in Game Face.
The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will launch its sixth year when betting opens on the first of its three 2008 pools at racetracks and satellite wagering outlets throughout North America. Betting on the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will also be available through TwinSpires.com, the official advance deposit wagering service for Churchill Downs Inc. and its family of racetracks.
Each pool of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager is comprised of 24 betting interests that include 23 individual horses. The 24th wagering interest in the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager is a mutuel field that includes all other 3-year-old fillies. The defections of By the Light and Sea Chanter reduced the roster of wagering interests in Pool 1 to 22.
Pool 2 of the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager is scheduled for March 6-9, and the year’s third and final pool is scheduled for April 3-6.
The Kentucky Oaks Future Wager is a minimum $2 wager and a win bet only. Winning payouts in all Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pools are based on the odds that are in place on each wagering interest at the conclusion of each respective pool.
