Life Is Good Heads Derby Future Wager Pool 2

Just as he secured favoritism last fall in the first round of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, Life Is Good is expected to remain the long-range betting favorite among individual wagering options for the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs.

The China Horse Club and WinStar Farm-owned son of Into Mischief  is the 6-1 individual morning-line favorite in pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, but the pari-mutuel field of "All Other 3-Year-Olds" is expected to be the overall choice in the three-day wager that begins Jan. 22. That group, known as the field, is 9-5 on the morning line in a field of 24 betting interests. The field for the first pool of the new year has closed as the bettors' choice every year since the wager was inaugurated in 1999, and the final odds were 5-2 in five of the last six years.

The pool will open Friday at noon and close at 6 p.m. ET Jan. 24. 

Life Is Good, based at Santa Anita Park with six-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert, scored a frontrunning victory in the Jan. 2 Sham Stakes (G3) to improve to 2-for-2, outlasting stablemate Medina Spirit.

Those two are among five 3-year-olds in pool 2 for Baffert. The others are debut winner Concert Tour; Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) winner Spielberg; and the unraced, highly touted colt Bezos. This is the first time an unraced horse has made the field in the KDFW.

Another horse expected to receive strong backing is TVG Breeders' Cup Juvenile Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (G1) winner Essential Quality. Listed at 8-1 on the morning line, Essential Quality has a perfect record through three starts, capped by a Juvenile victory over fellow pool 2 interests Hot Rod Charlie, Keepmeinmind, and Jackie's Warrior. Trained by Brad Cox, Essential Quality is in training at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, where he has worked five times since his Juvenile score.

Cox is represented in KDFW pool 2 with three other wagering interests: 9 1/2-length maiden winner and likely favorite in the Jan. 22 Smarty Jones Stakes, Caddo River; Lecomte Stakes (G3) third-place finisher Mandaloun; and eye-catching debut winner Prate—though Cox has suggested the latter could remain in sprints for the time being. 

The complete field for pool 2 of the KDFW (with trainer and morning line odds): #1 Bezos (Baffert, 20-1); #2 Caddo River (Cox, 30-1); #3 Capo Kane (Harold Wyner, 30-1); #4 Concert Tour (Baffert, 15-1); #5 Essential Quality (Cox, 8-1); #6 Fire At Will (Mike Maker, 30-1); #7 Greatest Honour (Shug McGaughey III, 50-1); #8 Highly Motivated (Chad Brown, 20-1); #9 Hot Rod Charlie (Doug O'Neill, 30-1); #10 Jackie's Warrior (Steve Asmussen, 20-1); #11 Keepmeinmind (Robertino Diodoro, 20-1); #12 Life Is Good (Baffert, 6-1); #13 Mandaloun (Cox, 20-1); #14 Medina Spirit (Baffert, 12-1); #15 Midnight Bourbon (Asmussen, 30-1); #16 Mutasaabeq (Todd Pletcher, 30-1); #17 Olympiad (Bill Mott, 50-1); #18 Prate (Cox, 30-1); #19 Prime Factor (Pletcher, 30-1); #20 Proxy (Mike Stidham, 50-1); #21 Senor Buscador (Todd Fincher, 20-1); #22 Spielberg (Baffert, 30-1); #23 Wipe the Slate (O'Neill, 50-1); and #24 "All Other 3-Year-Olds" (9-5). 

There are 14 new betting interests from pool 1, which was staged Nov. 26-29. In that pool, "All Other 3-Year-Old Colts and Geldings" closed as the 6-5 favorite and was followed by Life Is Good (5-1); Essential Quality (8-1); Jackie's Warrior (18-1); Highly Motivated (18-1); Keepmeinmind (19-1); Caddo River (27-1); Speaker's Corner (29-1); Fire At Will (30-1); Hot Rod Charlie (34-1); Red Flag (35-1); Reinvestment Risk (35-1); Savile Row (36-1); Scarred (49-1); Ten for Ten (51-1); "All 3-Year-Old Fillies" (56-1); Midnight Bourbon (59-1); King Fury (60-1); Get Her Number (64-1); Sittin On Go (68-1); Dr. Shivel (72-1); Rombauer (88-1); Pickin' Time (96-1); and Super Stock (103-1).

There are no refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which features win and exacta wagering. Should Churchill Downs officials determine during the duration of this week's three-day pool that one of the wagering interests has experienced an injury, illness, or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from participating in the Kentucky Derby, betting on the individual horse will be suspended immediately.

Dates for the remaining 2021 Kentucky Derby future pools are Feb. 12-14 (pool 3), March 5-7 (pool 4), and March 26- 28 (pool 5). The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will coincide with pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.