'All Others' 9-5, Smile Happy remains favored individual in 2022 KDFW Pool 2
Smile Happy winning the Kentucky Jockey Club S. (G2) at Churchill Downs (Coady Photography)
January 24th, 2022
Unbeaten Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) winner Smile Happy once again closed as the 8-1 individual favorite in Pool 2 of the 2022 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, reprising his odds from Pool 1. While the mutuel field of “All Others” remained the overall favorite, the price crept up, from 3-5 in Pool 1 to 9-5 by the time trading ended at 6 p.m. (ET) Sunday evening.
Smile Happy has not raced since Thanksgiving weekend, which coincided with Pool 1, but his form was boosted on Saturday. Call Me Midnight, seventh in the Kentucky Jockey Club, came back to upset the Lecomte (G3) at Fair Grounds. The respective second, third, and fourth in the Lecomte were individual interests in Pool 2 – Epicenter (24-1), Pappacap (24-1), and Trafalgar (77-1). Smile Happy is on course to make his sophomore bow at the New Orleans track in the Feb. 19 Risen Star (G2).
Another key factor in Smile Happy’s status is the backing of Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale, who campaigned his sire, champion Runhappy. McIngvale’s $10,000 bet in Pool 1 drove his price down more dramatically, but the furniture magnate/philanthropist also had an influence in Pool 2.
Mattress Mack just texted me to confirm he made a $7,000 bet Saturday on Smile Happy. That was the day he shortened from 9-1 to 6-1. He closed at 8-1, the shortest individual choice in the @KentuckyDerby Future Wager. "All others" closed at 9-5.
— Ron Flatter (@ronflatter) January 23, 2022
Smile Happy’s stablemate Tiz the Bomb was the subject of a less expected gamble, finishing at 10-1 with the boost of a $10,000 wager from Rocketship Stable’s Brook Smith. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) runner-up, who was 24-1 in Pool 1 and listed at a 20-1 morning line in Pool 2, is slated to revert to dirt for the Feb. 5 Holy Bull (G3).
Brook Smith of Rocketship Racing has placed a $10,000 bet on Tiz the Bomb in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. Smith bought his half-sister at the Fasig-Tipton October sale. Should Tiz the Bomb win the #KyDerby, the proceeds will go to the @Backside_LC. pic.twitter.com/F2D7TReoTL
— Kevin Kerstein (@HorseRacingKK) January 22, 2022
Undefeated Champagne (G1) romper Jack Christopher continues to find backers as a 14-1 chance, although the Chad Brown pupil is on the comeback trail from surgery. The only others closing below 20-1 have yet to try stakes company – Chasing Time, a sharp allowance winner at Oaklawn Park for Steve Asmussen, and Todd Pletcher’s debut romper Emmanuel – both 17-1. While Chasing Time was nibbled at from 20-1, Emmanuel was bet down from a 50-1 morning line.
A total of $361,209 was wagered from Friday to Sunday in Pool 2, $273,712 in the win pool and $87,497 in exactas. Churchill Downs reports that’s an increase of 12.2% from the $322,035 in the corresponding pool in 2021 ($240,768 in the win pool and $81,267 in exactas).
Complete Pool 2 results, including exacta probables, can be found on the Future Wager page on kentuckyderby.com.
Three pools remain in the 2022 KDFW. Pool 3 spans Super Bowl weekend (Feb. 11-13), Pool 4 runs alongside the only Kentucky Oaks Future Wager (Mar. 11-13), and Pool 5 is a little more than a month in advance of Derby 148 (Mar. 31-Apr. 2).
| Program | Horse Name | ODDS |
| 1 | Chasing Time | 17-1 |
| 2 | Classic Causeway | 51-1 |
| 3 | Commandperformance | 41-1 |
| 4 | Courvoisier | 39-1 |
| 5 | Dash Attack | 34-1 |
| 6 | Emmanuel | 17-1 |
| 7 | Epicenter | 24-1 |
| 8 | Giant Game | 28-1 |
| 9 | High Oak | 38-1 |
| 10 | Jack Christopher | 14-1 |
| 11 | Major General | 41-1 |
| 12 | Make It Big | 85-1 |
| 13 | Mo Donegal | 23-1 |
| 14 | Pappacap | 24-1 |
| 15 | Rattle N Roll | 20-1 |
| 16 | Simplification | 43-1 |
| 17 | Slow Down Andy | 20-1 |
| 18 | Smile Happy | 8-1 |
| 19 | Tiz the Bomb | 10-1 |
| 20 | Trafalgar | 77-1 |
| 21 | Varatti | 47-1 |
| 22 | White Abarrio | 171-1 |
| 23 | Zandon | 25-1 |
| 24 | All Other 3-Year-Olds | 9-5 |
