(Tuesday, February 16) As expected, the first pool of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed on Sunday with "All Others" the 3/2 favorite over the 23 separate betting interests.

If any three year old wins the Derby other than the 23 individual runners in the first pool, the $2.00 payoff with be $5.00.

Among the "All Others" is the undefeated Caracortado, who won Saturday's $150,000 Robert. B. Lewis Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita, returning $11.00.

The Mike Machowsky trainee beat several highly regarded Derby prospects in American Lion and Tiz Chrome, passing both in the stretch to win by 1 ¾ lengths for his fifth consecutive win, his third stakes win.

The son of Cat Dreams stopped the timer for the 1 1/6 miles over the Pro Ride Surface in 1:41.75 and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 97.

His next start likely will come March 13 in the San Felipe Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita.

Another "All Others" possible Derby prospect is Sidney's Candy, who took Monday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita.

The son of Candy Ride went gate to wire, completing the seven furlongs in 1:20.01, and returning $6.20 as the favorite in the field of seven.

His next start is undecided.

"I don't know what's next yet," trainer John Sadler said. "We're going to look at all the different races. The reason I didn't want to go into an allowance race is because of the graded earnings for the big stuff. He'll be going around two turns next time, that's for sure. Which one of those races it is, we don't know yet."

Lookin At Lucky, as expected was the favorite among the separate betting options in Pool 1, closing Sunday at 8/1.

Rule, the winner of Saturday's $200,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs, was 12/1 on the morning line, was 59/1 on Friday, down to 31/1 at the end of the day on Saturday, and dropped to 24/1 at closing.

Rule went to the front to prompt the early pace in the Davis, pulling clear in the stretch to win by three lengths under jockey John Velazquez.

The colt stopped the timer in 1:44.15 for the 1/16 miles and earned a 98 Beyer,

Rule is trained by Todd Pletcher, who had three others listed in Pool 1 among the top 23: Aikenite closed at 54/1, Eskendreya closed at 22/1, and Super Saver at 20/1.

Trainer Bob Baffert also had four: Concord Point (99/1), Conveyance (33/1), Lookin At Lucky (8/1), and Tiz Chrome (37/1).

The only other horse that took significant action in Pool 1 was Buddy's Saint, who went from his 12/1 morning line down to 10/1.

The Bruce Levine trainee is undefeated in three career starts, last out winning the Remsen Stakes (G3) on Nov. 28.

Four of the 23 betting interests were scheduled to go in Monday's $250,000 Southwest Stakes (G3), but frigid temperatures wiped out the Oaklawn Park card after the third race, and the race was rescheduled for this Saturday, with entries redrawn on Thursday.

Can They Really Be This Stupid Dept.: On Saturday, TVG's two main tracks were Aqueduct and Tampa Bay Downs, and through the first eight races on the card, they went off within a few minutes of each other.

Here are the off times:

AQU     TB
12:31   12:26
12:59   12:55
1:26     1:24
1:55     1:52
2:26     2:24
2:53     2:51
3:21     3:21
3:52     3:57

I know this is like beating a dead horse, but is it that difficult for major tracks to stagger post times?

Do they have any idea how much handle they are potentially losing by running races on top of each other, not giving handicappers a few extra minutes to do last minute handicapping and getting their bets in?

TVG is the largest ADW, and you would think that perhaps they might have enough clout to make a couple of phones and tell these two tracks to separate their post times by a few extra minutes.

Part of the problem on Saturday was the fact that it seems to take Tampa several more minutes to load all of the horses in the gate.

I don't think there is any track with a quicker load than Aqueduct.

However, horseplayers have been complaining about the lack of staggered post times for years, and it seems to be falling on deaf ears.

You would think tracks would want to maximize handle, and staggering post times would certainly help.

It is unbelievable in this age of simulcasting, with 85% of handle bet off track, that racetracks do not notice that they are losing handle and irritating their customers by not paying attention to this continuing problem.