Christy Hovanetz, Ph.D., is a Senior Policy Fellow for ExcelinEd focusing on school accountability and math policies.
Post position in horse racing is the location of a horse in the starting gate. It’s drawn at random, so does the starting point matter? You bet! Post position is one of many factors used in determining odds of winning for each horse.
While ExcelinEd loves math, we don’t endorse betting, so we won’t discuss how odds are calculated or the plethora of probability and statistics used before and during the races. But after the races are run, here are two interesting stats to observe. Out of the 20 post positions, #5 is the winningest. And horses with names starting with the letter “S” have the most Kentucky Derby wins. Who knows if those details actually bring good luck!
The Kentucky Derby is the longest running (pun intended) sporting event in the United States, canceled only once, in 1945, during a wartime ban on horse racing.
This gripping event dates back to 1875 when Aristides, the first Derby winner, finished the 1½-mile course in two minutes and 37.75 seconds. There’s math involved, of course, to appreciate the horse’s speed. In miles per hour, do you know how fast Aristides ran the inaugural race? 34.23 mph.
In 1896, the course length was reduced to its current length of 1 1/4 miles, yet speed comparisons are still possible. The legendary Secretariat still holds the record for the fastest time at Churchill Downs. He finished the 1973 Kentucky Derby in 1:59.40 minutes.
Math Pop Quiz: Who ran faster, Secretariat or Aristides?
Secretariat ran faster at 37.69 mph compared to Aristides at 34.23 mph. How much faster? 3.46 mph
Two weeks later at the 1973 Preakness, Secretariat came from behind to win the race. His final time was 1:53 minutes flat on the 1 3/16-mile course, which remains an unbroken course record. How much shorter is the Preakness course than the Kentucky Derby course? (1/16 mile) Did Secretariat run faster at the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness? (The Preakness, clocking in at 37.83 mph)
Secretariat earned the Triple Crown that year with his win at the 1973 Belmont Stakes, winning by 31 lengths in the record time of 2:24.00 minutes. To date, that’s the fastest 1½-mile race in the history of thoroughbred racing (averaging 37.5 mph).
It’s easy to see why the Kentucky Derby is coined the “Greatest Two Minutes in Sports,” yet it’s rarely run within that short timeframe. Only two other horses have ever finished in under two minutes. They were the 1973 runner-up, Sham, who finished 2 1/2 lengths behind Secretariat, and Monarchos, winning the 2001 Derby with a time of 1:59.97.
Speaking of speed, race over to ExcelinEd and check out our comprehensive K-8 math model policy and the math policy’s fundamental principles. They’ll open the gate for students to access the mathematical world of horse racing and, for that matter, all other sports! It’s a great reminder of how frequently we use math, even on weekends while enjoying sporting events.
