Horse racing expert Barry Meadow (and author of our book, Blackjack Autumn) answers:
"Our correspondent loses his money, because futures bets on horse races do not assume that the horse will actually run. That’s part of the risk you take when you make a futures bet on something like the Kentucky Derby, which is why you normally get much higher odds than will be available at post time."
Although it sounds harsh, it’s really no different than a futures bet in any of the major sports. If you bet the Baltimore Ravens to win the Super Bowl and they don’t make it to the game, you still lose the bet. Bets are returned for canceled baseball games, but in this case we’re not talking about the event being canceled, just a horse not being in the field.
It’s different when a horse in a race is "scratched." If a horse is scratched, all bets made on him, along with portions of some exotics that contain the scratched horse, are refunded. This is a rule akin to bets on a baseball game being returned when a listed pitcher doesn’t start, or a basketball proposition bet on LeBron James to score over 30 points being voided when LeBron doesn’t play. Meadow also points out that wagers such as Pick 4s and Pick 6s, as well as coupled entries, are treated in yet a different manner.
An interesting Kentucky Derby side note concerns a change in the track takeout. Just in time for the big race, Churchill Downs increased the takeout in its pari-mutuel pools from 16% to 17.5% on straight bets and from 19% to 22% on exotics. It’s a move that will have a significant monetary impact on participants, given that the Kentucky Derby is one of the most heavily bet events in the world.
Check "Today’s News" for the morning-line odds on today's race, plus parties and promos taking place around town.
