Prep season for the 152^nd Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve is picking up steam as we head into mid-January, and starting with the Lecomte Stakes this Saturday, there’ll be little letup over the next three-plus months until the first leg of the Triple Crown is run May 2 at Churchill Downs.

One of the most intellectually stimulating and potentially rewarding aspects of following up-and-coming Derby contenders is backing your opinion with a future wager, and there are two ways to do it: betting in Churchill Downs’ pari-mutuel pools held during key prep weekends and making a fixed-odds bet via Caesars Sportsbook in Las Vegas.

Churchill’s third of six pari-mutuel pools starts Friday, Jan. 16 at noon ET and ends Sunday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. ET. Thirty-nine individual horses are offered plus an “all other 3-year-olds” bet that opens at 4-1 odds. Fair Grounds’ Lecomte Stakes will be held Saturday, Jan. 17 — while Churchill’s pool is open — and it’s the first Derby points race that offers 20 qualifying points to the winner. This year’s Lecomte drew a very competitive 11-horse field including the first-, third-, and fourth-place finishers in last month’s Gun Runner Stakes at the New Orleans track (Chip Honcho, Crown the Buckeye, and Quality Mischief, respectively).

Caesars offers fixed-odds wagering on Derby horses, but the catch is bets can be placed only in Nevada, in person or through their geo-restricted app. If you’re traveling there this winter/spring or know someone who is, get your bets in!

Caesars Sportsbook Kentucky Derby Leaderboard (Jan. 12)

1. Ted Noffey (9-1)

2. Paladin (10-1)

3. Further Ado (15-1)

4. Cannoneer (20-1)

5. Commandment (22-1)

5. Incredibolt (22-1)

Individual Favorites in Churchill Downs’ Third Kentucky Derby Pool (opening Jan. 16)

1. Ted Noffey (6-1)

2. Further Ado (10-1)

2. Paladin (10-1)

3. Cannoneer (15-1)

4. Commandment (20-1)

4. Litmus Test (20-1)

5. Brant (30-1)

5. Incredibolt (30-1)

Early winter insights: We’re in that seasonal interregnum where most of the top 2-year-olds from late summer and fall haven’t yet made their first start of the year, which means that current Derby odds on most of them are unacceptable from a future-wager standpoint. Ted Noffey is a deserving winter-book favorite, of course. He’s undefeated through four starts and really hasn’t been challenged. But as of this writing the FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Presented by TAA winner and all-but-certain Eclipse Award winner next week hasn’t had a published workout since his Juvenile win in November. Ted Noffey is expected to return in a Gulfstream Park prep in the coming weeks, when we’ll find out if he’s taken the next step in development. Right now, 9-1 at Caesars and an opening 6-1 in Churchill’s third pool is a no-go. Similarly, at this point when assessing the 1-2 finishers in December’s Remsen Stakes, I’d plunk money down on runner-up Renegade (40-1 Caesars, 60-1 Churchill) over winner Paladin (10-1 Caesars and Churchill) just based on the odds disparity.

Plutarch at Del Mar. (Anne M. Eberhardt/BloodHorse)

A brigade of Bob Baffert-trained prospects are getting support from future bettors at Caesars and most are listed by Churchill. The problem is, at least from my perspective, few have particularly distinguished themselves. Litmus Test (25-1 Caesars, 20-1 Churchill) captured that elusive graded stakes win last month in the Los Alamitos Futurity against a questionable field that included two Baffert stablemates. Brant (25-1 Ceasars, 30-1 Churchill), a buzz horse last summer based on his $3 million purchase price and two one-turn wins at Del Mar, isn’t worth giving up on after his third in the BC Juvenile but, like Ted Noffey, he hasn’t had a published workout since that race. Desert Gate (45-1 Caesars, 50-1 Churchill), on the other hand, has been working steadily in recent weeks for Baffert and will need that foundation as he prepares for his first start since a runner-up finish in the American Pharoah Stakes Presented by DK Horse back in September. Boyd (28-1 Caesars, 60-1 Churchill) and Buetane (66-1 Caesars, 75-1 Churchill) have impressed in one-turn races – can they be even better at longer distances? Provenance (35-1 Caesars, not listed by Churchill) is an Into Mischief colt out of two-time champion Monomoy Girl who finished third in the Los Al Futurity and was taken to the equine ambulance after losing a shoe in the race … he hasn’t worked since.

That leaves perhaps the best Baffert bet right now from a Derby future angle: Plutarch. Another Into Mischief colt, Plutarch finished a close third on dirt in the American Pharoah Stakes, skipped the Breeders’ Cup, and then ran in two turf races to close out Del Mar’s Bing Crosby meet, checking in a rough-trip third in a stakes and then dominating a maiden race held at 1 1/8 miles. This colt owned by Coolmore connections has been training regularly at Santa Anita Park and was scheduled to run in the Eddie Logan Stakes on turf opening day, but was scratched when the race was postponed due to weather. Since his dam is champion dirt filly Stellar Wind, one figures he’ll be pointed back to that surface soon, and Plutarch is currently rated at 45-1 odds by Caesars (not offered in pool 3 at Churchill).

Nearly (Ryan Thompson/Coglianese Photo)

A trio of SoFla prospects: On Jan. 2, Todd Pletcher-trained Nearly turned heads with a dominant five-length win in a seven-furlong race at Gulfstream Park, easily defeating an odds-on favorite and two other opponents. That win against a small field followed a 9 ¼-length romp against fellow Florida-breds in a six-furlong Gulfstream dirt sprint in late November. This son of hot young sire Not This Time has stamina in his dam’s bloodline and should remain in open company with a two-turn test next on the agenda. He’s getting 60-1 odds at Caesars and opens Friday at 50-1 odds in Churchill’s pool.

Just last Saturday, two colts trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott won their career debuts at Gulfstream in impressive fashion. First, Chief Wallabee patiently stalked the pace in a seven-furlong race, angled outside of the leader in early stretch, and showed a push-button turn of foot to put that foe away when asked by jockey Junior Alvarado, winning by 1 ½ lengths. Four races later, Alvarado employed a similarly patient strategy aboard Thunderously in a two-turn, 1 1/16-mile maiden race, and horse and rider took the lead in midstretch with a sustained run and drew clear to score by a widening five lengths. Chief Wallabee is offered at 75-1 odds by Caesars compared with Thunderously at 125-1, possibly due to his higher first-out speed figure. He’s a son of another good young sire in Constitution and is the first foal out of an unraced Medaglia d’Oro mare with some successful relatives in stakes at sprint and mile distances. Thunderously would be my top Derby future pick right now as he’s by the great Gun Runner and out of the mare Princess Warrior, by Midshipman, who won stakes races at one mile and 1 1/16 miles (1990 Derby winner and influential sire Unbridled is a notable relative).

Bill Mott exemplifies patience in training and that should be kept in mind when assessing these 3-year-old first-out winners as Kentucky Derby prospects. It’s worth noting, however, that neither are campaigned by Godolphin (which finally notched its first win in the Derby last year with Mott-trained Sovereignty) so there’s a better chance that their owners might catch the always potent “Derby Fever” and join the fray as the prep calendar picks up momentum. They certainly have the potential to be factors on a road to Derby 152 that is wide open.