Derby, Oaks Future Pool Dates Announced

(from Churchill Downs report)
Churchill Downs has announced dates for the 2006 pools of its Kentucky Derby Future Wager and Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.

The four-day Derby and Oaks Future pools will run concurrently and for the first time the first of each of the three pools will be conducted in late January. Pending final approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority, the dates for the 2006 Derby and Oaks Future Wager pools are:

POOL 1 - Jan. 26-29
POOL 2 - March 2-5
POOL 3 - April 6-9

The Thursday-Sunday pools for both the Derby and Oaks will open at noon (all times Eastern) on Thursday. The Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools will close at 6 p.m. on Sunday, and the Kentucky Oaks Pools will close a half-hour later at 6:30 p.m.

Previously, the opening pools for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which is entering its eighth year, and the Kentucky Oaks Future Wager, which has been conducted in each of the last three years, had been scheduled in February. The upcoming schedule includes a late January opening as Churchill Downs makes an effort to keep the three pools and the Oaks and Derby separated by at least a month.

The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks Future Wagers are minimum $2 wagers and are win bets only.