Betting Field Horses in the Derby

Question
I attended the KY Derby 16 years ago and distinctly remember that we placed a bet on a "field horse to show."  Are the horses with the highest odds still grouped as "field horses" and is placing this type of bet still possible?

Answer
Hi Mark:

Thanks for your question... You are correct - betting the field was more common about 10 years ago or so, but I think I saw a "field bet" about two years ago and for the life of me, I cannot remember the occasion.  The racing secretary, at each track, whose job it is to put together the horses or contestants in each race, draw the post positions, and assign the morning line odds, has the option of assigning "the field" designations.  It normally is in a cheaper race where any horse above the number twelve would be grouped together as 12F, and the reasoning is that he feels that there would not be many wagers for several higher odds horses.  When you see 12F in the program, that means that all horses above the number 12 are in the wagering pool as the number 12 - lets say for instance that there are 15 horses in the race and the racing secretary assigs 12F to the 12, 13, 14 and 15 - you could bet Win, Place and/or Show on 12F and you would have all four horses. I can also remember the older version of "tote machines" in years past only had 12 horses on the keyboard.  Even some of the modern "tote machines" do not have some of the higher numbers - yesterday I worked the Kentucky Derby wagering at Oaklawn Park and our "tote machines" do not have the 19 or 20 horse on the keypad, so in order to bet the 19 and/or 20, we have to use the "dollar amount" keypad to enter the 19 and 20 horses.  Exacta, Trifecta and Superfecta wagering was very difficult even for the best tellers and was a very slow process.  I hope this helps you to understand the reasoning and purpose of "field bets" and again, thanks for the question.

Regards,

Jim Johnson