It's official! The road to the roses has begun. Beginning Thursday February 8th at noon till Sunday February 11 at 6 pm the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks future wager is now open.

What is the future wager? It gives you the horseplayer, the chance to get odds that you may not get on Derby Day. Let's go back to last year. Now who was the winner of the Kentucky Derby? Barbaro, that's right! What would you have won had you put down a $2 bet on Derby Day? Since he went for 6-1 odds, the pay out would have been $14.20. Not bad for a days work.

On the other hand, what if you had bet the same $2 on the first futures pool in February of 2006? Your piece of the pie would have been $40.20. A much better slice don't you think?

The Futures pool allows a horseplayer to get some early action in at some high rates of return. Or some high rates of loss. In 2003 someone who picked Funny Cide would have made $188.00 on a two dollar bet. On the other hand in 1999, laying down a $2 bet on Charismatic would have netted you a measly $10.20 as opposed to the $64.60 they would have taken on the day of the Derby.

Over the course of the next few weeks I will be looking at some of the contenders for the Road to the Roses and what my take is, but until then have a look at the official site for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.