'All Others' 3-5 Favorite, Smile Happy 8-1 Thanks to 'Mattress Mack' at Conclusion of Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 1

Nov 29, 2021

With the Kentucky Derby still 23 weeks away, the
pari-mutuel field of “All Other 3-Year-Old Colts and Geldings” closed as
the 3-5 favorite in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) and Smile
Happy was the 8-1 second choice.

          
Smile Happy, the 3 ¼-length winner of Saturday’s $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club
(GII) at Churchill Downs, had his odds drop from 15-1 to 9-1 around 5 p.m. ET
when Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, the Houston furniture store owner
who campaigned Smile Happy’s sire Runhappy, bet $10,000 to win on the
Kentucky-bred colt who is unbeaten in two starts. Additional money flowed late
until the 6 p.m. ET deadline and his odds closed at 8-1.

         
Jack Christopher, the impressive Champagne (GI) winner for trainer Chad
Brown who was expected to be the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI)
favorite before he was scratched, is expected to resume training in early 2022
following surgery to heal a left shin stress fracture.

         
Other horses who attracted mild interest from bettors: Breeders’ Futurity
winner Rattle N Roll (21-1); Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) and American
Pharoah (GI) runner-up Pappacap (23-1); Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (GI)
runner-up Tiz the Bomb (24-1); and Hopeful (GI) winner Gunite
(25-1).

         
Horses in order of the public’s betting choice (with trainer, Pool 1 odds and
$2 Win Will Pays): #24 All Other Colts and Geldings from the 2019 Foal Crop
(3-5, $3.40); #18 Smile Happy (Kenny McPeek, Runhappy, 8-1, $19.20); #11 Jack
Christopher (Chad Brown, Munnings, 10-1, $23.20); #17 Rattle N Roll (Kenny
McPeek, Connect, 21-1, $45.80); #16 Pappacap (Mark Casse, Gun Runner, 23-1,
$49.40); #19 Tiz the Bomb (Kenny McPeek, Hit It a Bomb, 24-1, $51); #9 Gunite
(Steve Asmussen, Gun Runner, 25-1, $53.80); #3 Commandperformance (Todd
Pletcher, Union Rags, 31-1, $64.80); #7 Giant Game (Dale Romans, Giant’s
Causeway, 37-1, $77.40); #13 Mo Donegal (Todd Pletcher, Uncle Mo, 37-1,
$77.60); #23 All Fillies from the 2019 Foal Crop (41-1, $85.20); #12 Major
General (Todd Pletcher, Constitution, 43-1, $88.60); #10 Howling Time
(Dale Romans, Not This Time, 43-1, $89.60); #2 Classic Causeway (Brian
Lynch, Giant’s Causeway, 44-1, $90.20); #5 Epicenter (Steve Asmussen,
Not This Time, 52-1, $106.80); #21 Varatti (Todd Pletcher, Into
Mischief, 54-1, $111.80); #22 Zandon (Chad Brown, Upstart, 56-1,
$114.40); #1 Ben Diesel (Dallas Stewart, Will Take Charge, 66-1,
$134.20); #4 Double Thunder (Todd Pletcher, Super Saver, 72-1, $147);
#15 Oviatt Class (Keith Desormeaux, Bernardini, 87-1, $177.20); #20 Trafalgar
(Al Stall Jr., Lord Nelson, 98-1, $198.80); #8 Graphic Detail (Bill
Mott, Practical Joke, 133-1, $269); #6 Forced Ranking (Chad Brown,
Mastery, 138-1, $279.80); and #14 Osbourne (Ron Moquett, Tapiture,
155-1, $312.80).

Total handle for the Nov.
25-28 KDFW pool – the first of five scheduled wagering pools in advance of the
148^th running of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve
(GI) on Saturday, May 7 – was $326,448 ($263,008 in the Win pool and $63,440 in
Exactas), up 30.9% from last year’s $249,331 ($191,984 in the Win Pool and
$57,347 in Exactas).

Inaugurated in 1999, the
Kentucky Derby Future Wager has been offered for a 24^th consecutive
year, but this marks just the ninth time that Churchill Downs has hosted a KDFW
pool on closing weekend of its Fall Meet.

This year’s early Derby
betting menu also included the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager, which, for the
seventh consecutive year, provided bettors with a unique opportunity to wager
on select breeding stars and their entire crop of juveniles with the hope of
winning next year’s Kentucky Derby.

“All Other Sires” at 7-2 and Runhappy at
7-1 attracted the most attention from bettors – and McIngvale, who plunged
$3,000 on his prized sire around 5 p.m. to lower his odds from 17-1 to the
second betting choice. Gun Runner progeny was the 9-1 third betting
choice.

Sires in order of
favoritism for the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager (Odds and $2 Win Will
Pays): #24 “All Other Sires” (7-2, $9.60); #16 Runhappy (7-1, $16); #6 Gun
Runner (9-1, $20); #15 Quality Road (10-1, $23.20); #7 Into
Mischief (14-1, $30); #4 Empire Maker (16-1, $35.80); #3 Curlin (17-1, $37.80); #19 Tapit (18-1, $38); #10 Munnings
(18-1, $39.80); #1 American Pharoah (20-1,
$42.60); #11 Not This Time (23-1, $48.20); #5 Giant’s Causeway
(24-1, $51); #21 Uncle Mo (25-1, $53.40); #22 Union Rags (29-1,
$60); #9 Medaglia D’Oro (32-1, $66.60); #14 Practical Joke (33-1,
$69.60); #2 Candy Ride (ARG) (37-1, $76.80); #12 Nyquist (40-1,
$83.20); #18 Street Sense (41-1, $84); #23 Violence (45-1,
$93.80); #20 Twirling Candy (48-1, $98.80); #13 Pioneerof the Nile
(53-1, $108.40); #17 Speightstown (75-1, $152.40); and #8 Mastery
(76-1, $155.80).

Total betting on the
Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager was a record $50,205 ($38,073 in the Win pool
and $12,132 in the Exactas), up 5.5% from last year’s $47,567 ($33,269 in the
Win pool and $14,298 in Exactas).

The KDFW and Sire Future
Wager combined to handle $376,653, a 26.9% jump from last year’s $296,898.

The other Future Wager
dates are set for Jan. 21-23 (Pool 2), Feb. 11-13 (Pool 3), March 11-13 (Pool
4) and March 31-April 2 (Pool 5). The lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager will
coincide with Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 4 on March 11-13.

Visit www.KentuckyDerby.com/FutureWager
for more information.