Derby trivia and the payoff

[MO]

11 of the last 34 Derby winners\' names began with an S. While I have never asked anyone, my logic is that people in horse racing can be a bit superstitious. And so you will see many horses with names beginning with the letter S because \"all you have to do to make this horse a winner is put a line through the S\": $

 11 for 34 is a bit shy of 33 %. There is no other \"letter\" that comes close to 33% regarding Derby winners. Street Sense has 2 S\'s. hmmmmmm. Sunday Silence.....

On trivia alone this horse should be 2-1.

[NoCarolinaTony]

MO

Excellent point Statistics are only meaningful when you have real data. And here you have it, The Non S horses like Barbaro, Giacomo, War Emblem, Funny Cide (who should be retired btw), Northern Dancer, Riva Ridge etc etc, didn\'t even have an S in the name. (Although the C in Cide sounds like an Ess). In fact the last two Derby Winners name ended in an \"0\" very Latin or Italian sounding names, which should move up runners like Stormello, Tiago, and Zanjero.

Data is an amazing thing.

NC Tony

[MO]

LOL. Good one, Tony.

[Holybull]

I think a much, much more reliable handicapping factor is using horses with 3 syllable names to win the Derby.  The only exceptions since 1990 are Charismatic, FuPeg, Grindstone.  14/17 = 82%!

[miff]

Bull,

Great angle,please provide a derby list of 3 syllables vs 2 vs 4 for those of us who are challenged,like me.I\'m sure TG will be adding this to their symbols.If you give me a 4 syllable horse, I\'ll tap out.Whats NoBiz Like Shobiz?

Thanks,
Mike