150th Kentucky Derby: Alphabet Betting for Fun, Maybe Profit

In a nonsensical way, the Marx Brothers knew a good horse when they saw one.

Here’s a little repartee between Groucho (Dr. Hackenbush) and Chico (Tony) from the 1937 movie “A Day at the Races.”

Tony: Hey, boss! C'mere! Sun-Up is the worst horse on the track!

Dr. Hackenbush: I notice he wins all the time.

Tony: Aw, just because he comes in first.

Dr. Hackenbush: Well, I don't want 'em any better than first.

Where are we going with this? Alphabet betting in the Kentucky Derby, that’s where.

Sun-Up begins with the letter S. While just four horses whose name begins with S won the Derby before the movie was released, 15 other S horses have gone on to victory in the Run for the Roses.

In 149 editions of the Derby, S is the winningest first letter of the victor’s name (19, most recently Super Saver in 2010).

In Saturday’s 150^th Derby, three horses have names that begin with S – Sierra Leone (3-1), Stronghold (20-1), and Society Man (50-1).

Derby Winners By The Alphabet

So, if you like some of the other S horses that have won the race – Secretariat in 1973 comes to mind -- this form of wagering could be profitable.

Other S winners include Sir Barton (1919) Seattle Slew (1977) -- eventual Triple Crown winners -- Spectacular Bid (1979), Sunday Silence (1989), Silver Charm (1997), and Smarty Jones (2004).

Letters B and C are tied for second with 13 winners apiece – Big Brown in 2008 and Country House (via disqualification of Maximum Security) in 2019 being the most recent, respectively.

Give C a strong look since Count Fleet (1943) and Citation (1948) -- also eventual Triple Crown winners – Carry Back (1961), Charismatic (1999) and California Chrome (2014) are among this prestigious group.

A is third with 12 winners, most recently when Authentic won in 2020. Other A winners include Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015), Assault (1946), yet three more eventual Triple Crown winners.

While there are no A or B horses in Saturday’s Derby, there are a pair of Cs – Catching Freedom (8-1) and Catalytic (30-1).

If you’re looking for the F factor since Fierceness is the 5-2 favorite, the letter has two Derby winners – Ferdinand (1986) and Funny Cide (2003).

There have been 1,995 Derby starters with names beginning with every letter except X. There have been winners starting with the letters Q, X, or Y.

Derby winners by the alphabet, with number of starters, most recent winner:

A -- 12, 100, Authentic 2020

B -- 13, 195, Big Brown 2008

C – 13, 155, Country House 2019

D – 7, 112, Dust Commander 1970

E – 2, 53, Exterminator 1918

F – 7, 92, Funny Cide 2003

G – 8, 87, Giacomo 2005

H – 5, 91, Hill Gail 1952

I – 2, 41, I’ll Have Another 2012

J – 5, 48, Justify 2018

K – 2, 38, Kauai King 1966

L – 7, 82, Lil E. Tee 1992

M – 11, 128, Mage 2023

N – 3, 42, Nyquist 2016

O – 4, 46, Orb 2013

P – 7, 115, Pleasant Colony 1981

Q – 0, 7

R – 6, 99, Rich Strike 2022

S – 19, 213, Super Saver 2010

T – 5, 115, Thunder Gulch 1995

U – 1, 16, Unbridled 1990

V – 2, 37, Venetian Way 1960

W – 7, 71, War Emblem 2002

X – 0, 0

Y – 0, 3

Z -- 1, 9, Zev 1923

US Racing Team

The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.