Weekend Winners Club

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April 3, 2020.  The Kentucky Derby Futures Pool 4 opens Friday and will run through Sunday, despite the Kentucky Derby being postponed until September. Initially this weekend we were to see three major exciting and historical Kentucky Derby prep races:  Santa Anita Derby G1, Wood Memorial G2, and Blugrass G2.  These have all been canceled or postponed indefinitely.

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The good news is that racing does continue at 3 major hubs: Oaklawn, Gulfstream, and Tampa Bay Downs.  Horses from all over the country have been shipping in and crowding the fields at these 3, making for great purses, handles, betting, and better racing in general.  The bad news is that the stakes calendar for this month is very thin.

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Many 3yo’s are still prepping for the first Saturday in May, as that is the current rescheduled date of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby worth $750k.  In fact, this Saturday there are 4 races for 3yo’s only at Oaklawn, and all the rest except one are for 3 and up. Gulfstream and Tampa also each have several dedicated 3yo races and other 3ups that they can participate in.

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But the point of this pool is to get a Kentucky Derby winner at good odds, a much different task than in any other year in history.  For example, it’s as likely as not that the horse to eventually win the September Derby is not listed in the futures, and may not even be on the radar yet.  3yos can develop a lot in 9 months, and some current stars can decline or get sidelined during that time.

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In the colorful Grid format PP below, you will see that there are some good deals available, such as two great late runners Enforceable and Sole Volante, who each fell victim to a rather dawdling pace up front in their last race out. The field may be the most likely to win but good luck getting decent odds on that.

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Look at The Grid in its native spreadsheet format here.

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As usual, you can get the Grid for all the major tracks and races here.

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